Re: The "Hopper" air fare app

[Moonglo]

Hi. Has anyone on here ever used the Hopper airfare app to help you get a good deal on your air for traveling? I've been following a few flights and have frozen one but am a lil leary since it would be a third party to book with instead of booking direct.  Anyone can offer advice or your thoughts?

[dogs4fun]

27 minutes ago, Moonglo said:

Hi. Has anyone on here ever used the Hopper airfare app to help you get a good deal on your air for traveling? I've been following a few flights and have frozen one but am a lil leary since it would be a third party to book with instead of booking direct.  Anyone can offer advice or your thoughts?

Yes we have used Hopper & have also used Skyscanner. Both are perfectly safe.

[njcruiser27]

33 minutes ago, Moonglo said:

Hi. Has anyone on here ever used the Hopper airfare app to help you get a good deal on your air for traveling? I've been following a few flights and have frozen one but am a lil leary since it would be a third party to book with instead of booking direct.  Anyone can offer advice or your thoughts?

We used the Hopper app for flights to Las Vegas and just used it for our flights to Barcelona for our cruise this past September. It is definitely legitimate, as soon as we booked we could see the reservation on Air France. We only paid $308 round trip, and no one had a fare anywhere close to that. The hopper is pretty accurate on predicting when the fare would be cheapest and when the fares would go up. 

[slidergirl]

I like to use Hopper only because I love to watch that little bunny scurrying on the screen - it's so darn cute...

 

I'll use to keep an eye on flights, but will  look directly with the airline.  I also use ITA Matrix - I can get detailed fare info there instead of just the usual "economy, business" headers.  With that info, I have been able to book just what I want...

 

Edited October 19, 2019 by slidergirl

[FlyerTalker]

6 hours ago, dogs4fun said:

Yes we have used Hopper & have also used Skyscanner. Both are perfectly safe.

 

Both may be "safe" in your eyes, but the truth is that both can send you to buy tickets from third party websites where you may be buying consolidator tickets that can have significant restrictions and usefulness.  In addition, the trustworthiness of the referred company is up to you to determine.  I've seen some dodgy referals.  It's useful to remember the difference between a meta-site and an actual sales outlet.

 

Further, in a comparison with ITA Matrix, I have often found that Skyscanner ignores many possible routings.  For example, the best pricing for flights from South Africa to the west coast of the USA usually run across the Pacific.  But Skyscanner and Hopper don't display any such results.

 

Caveat emptor.

 

 

[iancal]

We primarily use ITA Matrix with one exception.  

 

We prefer Skyscanner for regional and discount carriers in Europe and in Asia.  When working on air for our current trip we found a difference between these two on AegeanAir/Olympic flights-domestic and international.  Not certain why this was.  Not just one flight either but several of of seven flight segments that we booked on this carrier.

 

 

[travelplus]

Yes I use Hopper and SkyScanner as research tools and book  the airfare directly through the airline's website to avoid dealing with third parties.

[LuckyStar]

Yes, I use the Hopper App but I don't usually buy tickets through a third party.  It's just another tool I use.