Startup wages war on the $19b wasted each year on overpriced plane tickets

FairFly’s Aviel Siman-Tov (left), Gili Lichtman (centre), and Ami Goldenberg (right)

Airline ticket prices are highly erratic. The passenger sitting next to you might have paid hundreds of dollars less simply because they booked their flight at an opportune time.

“The price for a single flight changes 90 times on average, fluctuating up until the moment of departure,” explains Gili Lichtman, co-founder of FairFly.

Israel-based FairFly is striving to make travel as cheap as possible. The startup re-books flights after tickets have been purchased, factoring in details such as small changes in departure time, airline, and cabin class.

It takes into account airline cancellation fees – so there’s no nasty surprise at the end.

It integrates with a global distribution system to automatically track variations in price. After a savings opportunity has been monitored, it will notify clients via email or text message. There’s also an option to re-book flights instantly, as soon as there’s a price reduction.

Gili says this brings an average of US$254 in potential savings per ticket. Around 26 percent of all processed tickets are re-booked by the startup after it identified further price decreases.

This is neat, but you or I can’t access it directly. FairFly sells its tech direct to partners like travel agents and the administrative departments of large companies across the globe. The savings supposedly trickle down.

The biggest savings, however, are for corporate travelers that usually have high volumes of repeat travel.

Gili explains the price tracking takes into account things like airline cancellation fees so there are no nasty surprises at the end.

The startup’s clients pay a small monthly fee to use the product, but the major component is only charged after savings have been realized. “This ensures that FairFly’s service pays for itself,” she outlines.

The startup began in 2013, initially as a consumer-facing service. However, it pivoted recently after receiving several inquiries from travel agents and corporations.