Your personal no-fly list

The airfare prediction website Farecast is taking on hotels, offering rate advice for major properties in 30 U.S. cities. Rather than predict rates, the site tells you if the rate at any given hotel is a good value when compared with the hotel's rate history and other factors. You plug in your dates and preferred neighborhoods to stay at your destination, and then you add your wish list of preferred amenities. The site maps hotels that meet your criteria, along with the lowest rates available and advice on whether to book one or keep looking. As explained to us by Farecast CEO Hugh Crean: If a hotel rate is highlighted in red, it means that the rate is a relatively good deal when compared with the hotel's past history, local demand, and other factors. The buying tip, called a Rate Key, tells you if a hotel's rate is unusually low given its past pricing history and other factors, such as the demand for rooms in the city on particular dates. Farecast crunches the numbers on hotel rate data that it receives from Orbitz and other sources. The site doesn't sell hotel rooms but sends you to these sources for booking. Currently, the buying tips for hotel rates are only available for 5,000 hotels in 30 U.S. cities. Also, Farecast does not collect rates directly from major hotel chains, which often guarantee the lowest rates by booking on their websites. Farecast has made its name as a website that predicts whether fares on a route will rise or fall within the next week. In July, Farecast had more than 500,000 users, according to the Boston Globe. It's the first company to bring data-mining techniques to hotel rates, giving it a head start on its competition. Earlier: A new website lets you tour European hotels from home.

Continental Airlines said today that it will allow customers to change flights online if their flight is affected by disruptions, such as severe weather. Until now, passengers had to rebook themselves either by waiting on hold at 800/523-3273 to speak with an agent or wait in line at the airport. You can even waive change fees or handle other complex situations online, says the airline. At airports where wireless Internet is available, or for travelers who have Web-enabled phones and PDAs, this announcement is great news--and will hopefully inspire copycat moves by other airlines. In a summer of delays, it's nice to hear an airline actually do something--even something small--to improve the situation. Earlier: Kudos to Continental from Budget Travel editor Erik Torkells. Photo: Courtesy Alex S. on Flickr. (Creative Commons)

Today Sidestep.com launched a fare tracker service, joining the many websites that offer automatic, constant searches of booking engines. Like other services, Sidestep lets you plug in your dates and routes. The site will do several price searches per day. You can then set a schedule of how often you wish to receive an e-mail alert either weekly or as soon as the flight drops below the price you set. Uniquely, you can set the searches up for seven days from your preferred departure date, letting you take advantage of fare sales on alternate days if you're flexible. (Note: You have to run an ordinary search for fares on Sidestep.com before you're given an option to create a flight alert.) I tested the service sporadically throughout the day, and found that it performed best on heavily traveled routes. But it didn't always deliver the lowest available fare on less trafficked routes, such as between Louisville and Minneapolis/St. Paul. As always, no single Internet source is definitive when it comes to booking low fares. (Sigh!) My plan for the next few months is to use one fare tracker among the many available, such as Sidestep's, Yapta's, Farecast's, AirfareWatchdog's, FareCompare.com's, Orbitz's, etc., to track fares. But before I book a ticket, I'll compare flights on a metasearch site. At the moment, I alternate between Sidestep or Kayak because they allow you to simultaneously search on Expedia and Orbitz to make sure you find the lowest fare among the three websites. Other metasearch sites are CheapTickets and Yahoo's Farechase. Other Budget Travel staffers have different approaches, and I'm sure you have your own favorite strategy, too. Please let us know your experience with fare tracking sites by posting comments below. Related: Check out the reader comments about Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity and other travel search engines. Earlier: Get cash back when fares drop. Photo: Dan4th via Flickr. (Creative Commons)