# Air Canada and WestJet using Hopper



## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

I saw this news item:
Air Canada and WestJet make low-priced 'secret fares' available through Hopper app

What do you make of this?


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## milhouse (Nov 16, 2016)

From a business perspective, it seems like a totally logical and kind of typical way to fill seats without opening the flood gates to greater expectations of cheaper flights.

As a consumer, hopper is just another tool in the toolbox. 
I've had Hopper installed on my phone for a while but haven't used it much. I usually grab a deal from YVRdeals.com, search Kayak, or the airline websites. We fly Westjet somewhat regularly for some destinations like annual trips to Vegas. I'll probably include a search and fare watch on hopper for certain trips. 

But I also wouldn't doubt Hopper is sharing analytics with Air Canada and Westjet on people's searches so AC and WS can be more strategic with their pricing.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

Not surprising. We have also found that on some airlines, in country booking is less expensive than international on line bookings. We experience dthis last year when booking two flights in South America and a few years prior when we were booking three domestic flights inside Turkey. In the case of the latter, booking on an in country web site yielded a significantly lower price- $230 CAD for the three flights vs $600 by using international booking sites such as Expedia.

It pays to shop. Not much different that buying a product or service through Costco or Amazon vs retail stores-on line or otherwise.

Several years ago, while arranging a one way flight home for Australia, we discovered that a one way ticket on AC from Hawaii to Calgary was actually cheaper when purchased in Australia than it was if we had purchased it in Canada. The website would not let the lower price go through. We had to call AC's toll free number and have the price manually entered by the agent (who characterized the price delta as a 'computer error'.

We purchased one way BA tickets from Toronto-Istanbul several years ago on Cheapo.com. The ticket price was less than half the price of purchasing through BA. Same seat locations and ability to preselect the seats, same flight/times, same fare code.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Air Canada is up to something funny. They seem to have removed some of their regular tickets from Kayak, so my regular Kayak (and Hipmunk) searches are no longer bringing up the economy AC options.


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## bgc_fan (Apr 5, 2009)

I guess not anymore. At least for the time being. I don't think they liked the publicizing the idea that there were "special fares" only available to those who had the app.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/westjet-hopper-1.4648493


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

I tried Hopper and it doesn't look that useful. I did not actually find a single AC or WestJet fare of interest, and it showed far less variety. The site is not nearly as useful as Kayak and ultimately I still found a better fare using Delta airlines.

What Hopper does is monitor a specific flight (specific date) to watch for price changes. This is not a new capability; Kayak and others have been doing this for years. Unlike Kayak though, Hopper doesn't have a wide range of airlines.

Nothing special going on with Hopper, just inflated claims of what their "application" does. Good to see Air Canada take quick action because for a moment there, I really think Kayak killed Air Canada from their listings. Maybe other aggregating sites did the same.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

am i wrong , or dont you still get the best fares directly on the airlines' websites?


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

I think so, yes. I always book directly with the airline web site. I use various web sites to help me compare options, but I always book directly at the airline web site. But as mentioned above, check the international editions of an airline web site (e.g. Air Canada US vs Air Canada CA) because sometimes a better price is available through one.


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