Travel
How ‘Secret Fares’ Might Change the Way You Fly
The mobile app is the newest airline battlefield in the war over costs and passenger loyalty.
The Hopper app.
Source: Hopper Inc.Jump onto Expedia or Priceline to search for a flight, and you’ll likely see an “opaque” fare: a price with no carrier or even the exact time. How does this help, one might ask. Well, it’s not meant to help you; it’s meant to help the airlines.
These mysterious fares are a tool that can help carriers move seats they have a hard time selling. This strategy is now turning even more complex with “secret fares,” the next evolution in the airline quest to more tightly control ticketing inventory and the costs imposed by companies that distribute their fares. It even involves an app.