Why you need to do multiple searchs
 

Search at eso.continental.com:

IAH-SAT
12/24/01 All Day - 12/26/01 All Day
Returns 7 results at $122.50 each

IAH-SAT
12/24/01 1 PM - 12/26/01 1 PM
Returns 7 results at $68.50 each

The only reason why I even tried that was because I had seen $68.50 fares on Orbitz.

Sigh. Frustration like this is why I spend all of my free time writing travel software. Hopefully in the very near future, I'll have one of my products available that would have solved the above problem. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif


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[This message has been edited by jimbob (edited 12-05-2001).]

Expedia.com's Airline Fare List does the trick. I always check that first before searching for specific dates/times.

A query for IAH-SAT returns $60+tax (actually a $30 one way T fare). $5.50 segment tax + $3 PFC = $68.50.

My FareBrowser tool would do the similar trick. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif But knowing the lowest published fare doesn't necessarily always prove to be helpful when you're looking for the lowest available fare. The only thing that it's guaranteed to do is show you the lower bound to search for ("I've found $68.50, so there's no reason to search for anything cheaper anymore.").


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"But knowing the lowest published fare doesn't necessarily always prove to be helpful when you're looking for the lowest available fare"

I would say the lowest published fare is available about 10% of the time - at least from EWR

I almost always find availability for the lowest fare on Expedia.com. Every so often a weird one will sneak in, such as ONT-SNA on TW for $1000 (no availability on any date!) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif . It might not be available on the first pair of dates I choose, but it's usually available on some date.

jimbob, your farebrowser rules.

i'd be curious how you coded it (what appserver, if any, etc). email me if you have details on that handy.

nologic98, your email isn't available in your profile...

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