What a flight price alert actually tells you
A lower number is a useful signal. The time, itinerary, and fare behind it are what make it actionable.
Start with the observation time
Fareflare records a price only after checking the flight identity, passenger context, and eligible fare. The observation timestamp tells you when that comparison happened. It is not a live reservation or a promise that the same fare remains available.
The current minimum requested interval is 15 minutes. Browser failures, provider changes, and retry backoff can make observations further apart. If a fare falls and rebounds entirely between successful checks, Fareflare cannot report the unseen price.
A new low has a starting point
An observed low means the lowest eligible price recorded since this monitor started. It does not describe all previous fares, every airline, or every booking source in the market.
A selected-itinerary monitor compares the same supported itinerary over time. A route-search monitor can find a different matching flight as the cheapest result. Open the observed offer and check the flight number and times before deciding.
Explore the observations behind the price
Open Price history on a monitor and choose All loaded, Past 7 days, or Past 30 days. The latest, lowest, highest, and change figures apply only to loaded observations within that range. Load earlier observations when available to extend the comparison. Lowest in view is not a claim about every price the monitor has ever recorded.
The chart places prices at their observation times and stops its line across gaps longer than twice the requested check interval. It does not estimate prices for missed checks. The table shows the recorded totals and, for route searches, the matching flight when recorded.
Export CSV saves the rows currently in view, most recent first, with UTC timestamps and amounts in integer minor units. For USD, 19100 means $191.00; for JPY, 19100 means 19,100 yen. The currency and fare fields help you compare like for like.
Compare the same thing
Look at the currency, passenger count, fare name, and whether the displayed amount is the trip total. Two offers with different baggage or ticket conditions are not interchangeable just because their headline prices look close.
The supported route-search mode excludes Basic fares. That is one explicit selection rule, not a claim that every included fare has the same baggage, change, or refund terms. Read the airline’s actual conditions before booking.
- Confirm the departure date and airports.
- Check the passenger count, currency, and total payable amount.
- Review the actual included baggage and ticket conditions.
- Follow the observed offer and confirm the price again with the booking provider.
An error is different from a higher price
A failed collection does not create a new price observation. Fareflare shows the last verified price with its age and the collection error. A stale price should not be interpreted as a fresh quote.
Choose alert preferences that fit your decision. You can watch observed lows, set a threshold, and mute alerts without pretending a monitoring tool can know when a fare will reach its final minimum.