Buy flights on a Tuesday! Compare multiple websites! Buy months in advance!
These are all the common pieces of advice that you'll hear when you ask Google how to get the best deals on flights. Unfortunately, they're all misleading at best and completely wrong at worst. But what these things really point to is the psychology of human nature -- we want to feel like we got a great deal! Even if the price we're paying is higher than necessary.
But being data people, (hashtag) facts matter! What is a good deal? The answer, as always, is "it depends!". The truth is, most airlines excel at revenue management. Fare pricing is oftentimes an arbitrary exercise based on external requirements instead of a predictable, patterned behavior. That means, flight pricing is effectively chaotic in nature and difficult to predict on a time domain.
Using machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) on Azure we've built and proven our ability to find that great deal. A couple of recent deals we've booked using this process (though manual, instead of automated) include Bahamas for $200, Argentina in Business for $1500, and Portugal for $550.
Come learn what we've accomplished and how we're doing it.
