Finding the lowest airfare can require plugging into the various search engines from Travelocity to Kayak. But, there’s a new kid with a new approach on the block…Flightfox. Flightfox uses a contest format to arrive at the best fare. Let’s say you wanted to fly from Houston to Rome, but make intermediary stops along the way in London and Barcelona. To make such a complex itinerary you would need to find your favorite travel agent. However, with Flightfox, you would set up a competition to find you the lowest air fare.
Here’s how:
- Set up the competition through Fightfox.
- Detail all the specifics. Specifics means…are you willing to fly any time? or no more than two six hour layover or will you fly any airline?
- You pay Flightfox a finder’s fee of $19 minimum to $?? (you decide), but the more complex the itinerary, the more incentive you should offer.
- Flightfox posts the contest.
- The contest runs for 3 days.
- You select the entry that best meets your requirements.
The winner gets 75% of that finder’s fee.
Who is doing all this fare research? Good question and one I asked. Flightfox has about 900 researchers consisting of travel agents to people who enjoy the sport of finding cheap fares.
You are the real winner since the cost of your airfare could save you literally thousands of dollars. Here’s a simple example. Traveler Joe was going from San Francisco to Boston. He needed to leave SF late afternoon on day 1 and be in Boston early morning on day 2. Flightfox got him there for $175.00 meeting all the criteria. I researched the same itinerary on Kayak and couldn’t meet the criteria at any price. Good for Flightfox researchers and good for Traveler Joe. We always like a Win-Win.
If you have a complex itinerary involving international flights yet a flexible time table, Flightfox could save you enough money to stay longer and play more.
Maybe that dream trip isn’t so far out of your reach after all! Log on to flightfox and offer your very own contest.
