I would be careful with the frequent pings. It might cause so much traffic that the host of the site might block your access. What you are considering would be handy but I hope we don't get greedy and loose what we have. Thanks for your contribution.

I was on the phone with delta one night and I had your site up while I was trying to book 5 seats on a day with very little discount availability. The agents kept coming up with higher fares (I had vouchers so had to book on the phone). Finally I saw one of the agents taking the seats out of the bucket I wanted in front of my eyes. Bingo I knew she was the only one trying to get me the right fare.

It was magical, something I would have never dreamed possible 10 years ago.