Hopper, a startup that won the 2016 Google Play Award, connects users with the cheapest airfare and lets them know when the best time to fly is based on a variety of criteria. The app doesn’t include ads or spam, and its aim is to help travelers save money on their next flight.
The company, founded in 2010 in Massachusetts, has raised a total of $40 million to help expand their service and offering. The company also closed a $16 million funding round earlier in the year.
Predictive algorithms utilizing trillions of datasets allows the app to predict prices.
The app version didn’t come to fruition until 2015 when the company released an iOS version of the app before releasing the app on Android, too. The company released a new update that will hit the Android app first this week.
A major change in the way the app works was introduced. The app will predict when the best time to buy a flight will be. The company states that they’ve helped consumers save $150 million in airfare, and the average customer saves $50 on airfare using the app.
The company introduced a key feature called “Watch Filter,” which will alert travelers when they can get the absolute cheapest price on tickets.
The additional update allows users to be able to filter flights by criteria: fares, layover, nonstop and so on. Hooper will use its price prediction for your flight and will narrow down the results based on your preferences. Users may be recommended to wait to fly, and in this case, the app can monitor pricing and alert the user when the perfect flight has been found.
According to the company’s post, the feature has been in the works for over a year. The company’s predictions on prices are 95% accurate when using Watch Filters, according to the company.
The company expects Watch Filters to be added to the iOS version of the app shortly.
