Why We Do What We Do at Hopper

Travel is amazing but booking airfare sucks.

Think about it. Looking at photos of potential hotels? Fun. Researching restaurants? Amazing. Reading about all the adventure activities you can try? Inspiring.

Booking flights? Awful.

It’s an opaque, painful process, and it feels like you never have the right information. How do you know that your flight won’t suddenly get cheaper — after you’ve already parted with your hard-earned money? What if another airport offers a better deal? Why am I getting all these annoying popups? Why won’t this website show up on my iPhone? Seriously, what is the deal with all these popups?

Furthermore, Hopper’s research found that the average traveler ends up spending 10% more from the time they start looking for flights to the time they actually pay. That means travelers are spending more money… to spend more time… doing something that is not fun.

That was, to us, utterly insane.

So we decided to streamline the process by arming you with all of the data you need and giving you the most accurate predictions out there. Here’s how we do this.

We Monitor Airfares

Checking airlines’ website. Keeping track of prices. Refreshing your screen. Re-refreshing your screen. Ain’t nobody (but Hopper) got time for that.

So we built a complex system that monitors and indexes airfare prices in real time. We receive, from several global distribution systems (GDS), real-time “shadow traffic” containing the results of consumer airfare searches. This means we are constantly watching flight prices and airfare sales so you don’t have to. We know, the moment it happens, if a certain flight’s price has gone up or down. We also know if your favorite airline has announced a sale. When prices drop, Hopper can share that information with you in a helpful, streamlined way that doesn’t involve searching a million websites.

We Predict Prices

We love big data, and here’s why: Using all the prices that we have gathered over the years, Hopper has developed the most advanced price-prediction algorithms out there. We’ve got a historical archive with about a trillionpriced itineraries in total (yes, a trillion) and we use that flight data to create super-accurate forecasts based on current and historical trends. The Hopper app is unrivaled in its ability to pinpoint the best time to click that buy button (in fact, our price prediction feature gets it right 95% of the time). Our average airfare predictions in 2015, as published in our seasonal consumer price index, have actually been within $5. So you know when you’re searching in the Hopper app, you’re getting the right airfare tips and smart predictions.

Hopper App Screenshot - Flight Prediction (BOS to LAX)

We Send You Alerts

At Hopper, we believe you’re too busy to waste time, chained to your computer or smartphone, looking for some sweet airfare deal you saw in a display ad. So we’ll send the deals to you.

Set up a fare watch for wherever you want to go and Hopper will keep an eye on that route. When we see a great deal or know that prices are going to drop, we’ll send your smartphone a push notification. No more digging in your email inbox. No more comparing between airfare websites. Just a simple message sent right to your phone. Simply tap on the alert to open the app and begin booking (or wait, if we tell you prices are going to drop even more).

Hopper App Screenshot - Alerts

We Know Trends

Not only are we the best at predicting airfare, we also know the ins and outs of this very confusing market. Our data scientists and editors keep some very watchful eyes on the airline industry. We know why and when airfare prices change, which airlines are offering new routes and competitive pricing, even which airports are the best option for your trip. Which destinations should you discover this year? Which expensive places are suddenly cheaper than ever? What’s happening this season that every traveler must see? Hopper knows, and we want you to, too.

You Can Trust Us

Most of the time, we’ll actually tell you not to book your flight. We’re not just trying to sell you something at an exorbitant price — we want you to get the best deal possible.

Soon, You Can Book With Us

Coming soon, seamless flight booking, right from your phone. Seriously.

We see Hopper as part of a digital travel revolution, where more and more consumers are researching and shopping on their mobile devices. Why should flight booking be any different? We want to live in a world where it’s possible to book a flight with just a few taps of the finger, so we’re working on developing seamless technology to make simple, fast mobile ticketing a reality.

Stay tuned.

In short, we want travel to be fun again. We want the booking process to be painless. And we want consumers to have all of the information they need, without all the noise. That’s why (and how) we do what we do at Hopper.

Update: In-app booking is now available on iOS and Android! It’s been a pretty amazing success, and we can’t wait until all 2 million+ of our Hopper users are booking with us. Be one of them and download Hopper.