Farecast emerges from beta with an audit confirming predictive accuracy of 74.5 percent

Farecast.com, the airfare prediction website, announced new tools that help savvy travelers catch elusive price drops and be more empowered when shopping for airfare this summer. Farecast Alerts, powered by Farecast's proprietary prediction technology, are a powerful new addition to Farecast's suite of tools that help consumers track their trip and save money. No other airfare alert provides a prediction and comprehensive fare history to help consumers catch a price drop. Farecast also emerged from beta with unique features for frequent travelers and results of an audit confirming its predictive accuracy of 74.5 percent.

"We've seen a high volume of price drops over the last several months and expect these to continue throughout the summer," said Hugh Crean, Farecast's president and chief executive officer. "Airline prices are constantly changing and no other travel site empowers you with tools to capture elusive price drops. Farecast recommends when to wait and provides free alerts that tell you when to buy at lower prices."

Catch Elusive Price Drops with Farecast Alerts

Farecast research reveals that more than 50 percent of price drops disappear within 50 hours, illustrating the need for consumers to stay apprised of fare drops to their chosen destinations. No other travel website tracks available pricing daily to help consumers make an informed choice to wait and buy later, and then provides a free prediction and comprehensive fare history to help them catch a price drop.

Farecast's new alerts will be even more valuable for consumers this summer, as a combination of factors, including early indications of weaker demand, increased airline competition and rising fuel prices, promise to make this busy summer season more dynamic and price drops more dramatic. Farecast Alerts are the latest addition to Farecast's "Track Your Trip" suite of tools which include Fare Guard and RSS feeds. When it predicts fares are dropping or flat, Farecast also offers customers the opportunity to purchase a Fare Guard to protect the lowest fare for their trip for seven days.

Farecast Emerges From Beta with Expanded Features

Farecast emerged from beta, expanding its air shopping service to include one-way, multi-city, nearby airports and any class of service. With this release, Farecast introduced innovative new search functionality including a unique Flight Quality Filter that allows frequent travelers to sort by type of flight including red-eye, long layover, short connection or mixed cabin. Farecast also tells its customers when seats are limited so consumers no longer get burned by unexpected sell-outs. No other travel website offers customers this level of visibility and intelligence when shopping for flights. During this beta period, Farecast also found more than $10 million in potential customer savings as a direct result of its predictions.

Audit Cites 74.5% Prediction Accuracy

In an audit, Navigant Consulting, Inc., confirmed that Farecast's predictions are 74.5% accurate, and that travelers purchasing two tickets could save an average of $55 by using Farecast's Fare Predictions. Navigant Consulting analyzed a random sample of over 44,000 predictions made by Farecast to customers from January 1, 2007 through March 31, 2007, and calculated monthly accuracies of 74.6 percent, 73.6 percent and 75.2 percent, resulting in an overall 74.5 percent accuracy rate for this period.

"We've closely analyzed a statistically relevant sample from Farecast's predictive technology, and confirmed the veracity of the technology's accuracy," said Brad Wang, a consultant with Navigant Consulting. "Based on our findings, if customers adhere to Farecast's prediction and corresponding recommendation when shopping for airline tickets, customers will potentially save over $50 on a typical roundtrip transaction."

Farecast Airfare Predictions

Unlike any other travel website, Farecast.com saves online travel shoppers money with an airfare prediction for their specific trip. The company's patented airfare prediction shows whether the lowest fares for their trip are rising or dropping. Farecast.com also provides expected price movements, confidence levels, historical prices and buying tips when customers search for flights. To learn more about the proprietary airfare prediction, see the Our Technology page of Farecast.com.

About Farecast, Inc.

Farecast.com is the airfare prediction website. Farecast.com helps airfare shoppers across the country save money by answering the question: should you buy now or wait? In addition to being the first to provide airfare predictions, Farecast.com displays the lowest fares from the major airline sites and offers industry leading travel planning tools. Farecast.com was recognized as one of PC World's 20 Most Innovative Products of 2007, "Best of What's New for 2006" by Popular Science, one of TIME Magazine's 50 Coolest Websites for 2006 and one of the "Best Trip Planning Tools" by Business Week readers. The company is located in Seattle, Washington, and is funded by Sutter Hill Ventures, Greylock Partners, Madrona Venture Group, WRF Capital and PAR Capital Management. To get a free airfare prediction from your city, or to learn more visit www.farecast.com.

Source: Farecast, Inc.