How do you know if your airfare search engine of choice is really giving you the best flight options out there? Are you confident that Expedia finds better deals than Kayak? Or that Skyscanner has got Cheapoair beat in scanning airline prices? Instead of slowing down your computer by having all these websites open at one time to compare, perhaps you might consider giving AirfareWatchdog a try.
Sure, AirfareWatchdog has an adorable and illustrative name that makes you immediately want to trust it (or is that just me?), but is it really any more effective than the other airfare search engines out there? I believe we are all ready for a website that serves as the ultimate master of finding the best deals on flights, and maybe, just maybe, AirfareWatchdog is indeed that website.
Let’s Review How Airfarewatchdog Keeps Watch
As addressed previously, Airefarewatchdog is an airfare search engine, and it claims to find the cheapest flight options out there as they become available and then posts them in real time. The website, founded by George Hobica, supports this claim by using fare analysts to search the internet constantly for affordable flights that can be missed by algorithms that serve other search engines.
Airfarewatchdog is not a website that you book flights through, but it redirects you to the website with the best flight option that the analysts have located. And if you’re worried that you won’t be online to see the cheapest flight options as they become available, Airfarewatchdog will email you with alerts if you choose to subscribe.
Good Watchdog
Airfarewatchdog shows you the cheapest flights available on other search engine websites. Are you tired of clogging up your internet bar with 10 different tabs connected to every airfare website you have open? Airfarewatchdog makes you so don’t have you to go through the effort (and the headache) because it brings all the information to one website.
Because of the utilization of fare analysts instead of just algorithms, Airfarewatchdog provides deals from smaller airlines that most other websites don’t, such as Southwest and Allegiant.
Are you hankering to travel and feeling open-minded about where and when you go? Airfarewatchdog provides a fantastic travel anywhere search option along with daily listings that fills you in on the greatest steals based out of your closest airport.
Airefarewatchdog allows you to not only subscribe for email alerts, but to modify your alerts so that they only inform you about specific routes or specific airports. You can also modify how often you receive the email alerts. They provide clear instructions with screenshots on how to do so.
Sometimes, studying a few solid travel blogs can really inform your decision making about where and when to travel. Luckily, Airfarewatchdog provides a regularly updated blog full of travel deals and helpful advice.
Bad Watchdog
Pop ups, pop ups, pop ups. As you navigate Airfarewatchdog, get ready for your computer to stall a few times because of the pop up advertisements connected to various pages of the website. In fact, if you’re on a computer that is a bit older and known to freeze, I might honestly avoid Airfarewatchdog. The pop ups can be that bad.
Some customers have reported the email alerts to be both overwhelming and misleading. There are reviews of people explaining that some emails state there is a certain price available for a flight they want, but when they log onto the website immediately, the flight at that price is nowhere to be found. It’s possible the emails use some classic bait and switch tactics.
Airfarewatchdog runs a bit slow because they’re connecting to and reviewing numerous other airfare websites. It honestly might be just as fast to open Priceline on a different tab and enter the same search there, as it is to use Airfarewatchdog to tell you what the options are on Priceline.
Airfarewatchdog Review: Competition
Skyscanner: Here is a search engine that got a later start and built its way up to recognition and prestige in recent years. Skyscanner boasts the same access to smaller low-cost airlines as Airfarewatchdog as well as the option to look at the cheapest flights from your closest airport to anywhere in the world. The website does not show you the deals being offered by competing websites like Airfarewatchdog, but it does function much faster and there are no pesky pop ups. In the same test that placed Expedia at the bottom, Skyscanner was placed at #3 as one of the most reliable websites to find the best priced flights. So, this might be the search engine to turn to if you don’t think Airfarewatchdog is finding the most affordable options that are out there.
The Airfarewatchdog Review Verdict
When it comes down to it, I don’t believe Airfarewatchdog is the ultimate master website at finding the best deals on flights. I really wanted it to be with such a perfect name, but unfortunately, I don’t think it’s much more effective at finding flights than any other search engine. I’m afraid the Airfarewatchdog website is likely doomed to become another tiny tab at the top of your open web browser as you scan every search engine available to find that killer deal.
Airfarewatchdog is definitely not a bad place to look for airfare. And hey, you might even purchase a flight you find with them a time or two. But I don’t suggest relying on it as your only aggregate source of booking travel. I would make sure to check out fierce competitors, such as Skyscanner, in case the watchdog missed a flight or two.
