新應(yīng)用助你找到便宜機票

A new app promises to save travellers money by pinpointing the cheapest days of the year to take a flight.

一款新的手機應(yīng)用能確切指出一年中乘坐航班最劃算的時間，從而為旅客省錢。

Hopper, available in the App Store since yesterday, claims to analyse “billions” of prices before identifying the cheapest time to travel on thousands of routes. Hopper believes it can save fliers 40 per cent, on average.

這款名為Hopper的手機應(yīng)用，自1月28日起在蘋果應(yīng)用商店(the App Store)開放下載。Hopper聲稱，在數(shù)千條航線中找出最劃算的時間點前，會分析數(shù)十億條航班價格數(shù)據(jù)。Hopper認為，該款應(yīng)用平均可以為旅客節(jié)省40%的花費。

Users can even request real-time alerts, ensuring they’re notified when a cheaper offer on their selected journey becomes available – and told if the price is about to go up.

用戶甚至可以設(shè)定實時提醒服務(wù)，確保如果其選定的行程有更便宜的報價或及機票價格將要上漲時，他們會收到通知。

This, the company says, is what makes it stand out from the competition. "A lot of the flight alert products others are offering are almost a daily digest," Patrick Surry, chief data scientist at Hopper, told Mashable. “The real-time side of it is really important."

該公司說道，這就是Hopper得以從競爭中脫穎而出的法門所在。“很多航班提醒產(chǎn)品基本就是每日信息摘要，”Hopper的首席數(shù)據(jù)專家帕特里克·薩里(Patrick Surry)向Mashable表示：“實時提醒這方面是非常重要的。”

To use the free app, travellers must first enter a route. They are then shown a calendar, with days colour-coded depending how cheap it is to fly.

使用這款免費應(yīng)用，旅客首先須輸入一條路線，之后就會看到日歷，上面用不同顏色標注著該航線不同時間的價格便宜程度。

A search for flights from London to Barcelona, for example, suggested that the most expensive days to travel this year are currently Sunday, February 15 – the day after Valentine’s – and July 27, when travellers can expect to pay more than $300 (£199) per person.

例如，搜索從倫敦到巴塞羅那的航班，結(jié)果顯示，今年價格最高的日期是7月27日和2月15日，這天恰好是周日，又是情人節(jié)的后一天。這兩天每位旅客將要支付超過300美元(約199英鎊)的費用。

That’s if you book immediately. Choose the days you want to travel and Hopper will predict the best time to buy. For flights departing London on July 1, and returning from Barcelona two days later, the lowest available price is currently $130 (£86) - that's for a 7.15pm departure from Gatwick with Norwegian. But it believes that prices could fall to as low as $85 (£56) over the next four months. After May 1, however, it suggests that fares will rise by at least $70 (£46).

如果你馬上訂票就會出現(xiàn)上述情況。選好出發(fā)的時間，Hopper將預(yù)測最佳購票時機。比如7月1日從倫敦起飛，2天后自巴塞羅那返回的航班，目前能買到的最低票價是130美元(合86英鎊)——這趟挪威航空的航班晚上7點15分從蓋特威克(Gatwick)出發(fā)。但Hopper認為，在未來的四個月，該行程的票價可能會降至85美元(約56英鎊)，但5月1日之后，票價將上升至少70美元(約46英鎊)。

“You should wait for a better deal, but book before May 18,” is the final verdict – and travellers have the option to watch the route and receive updates.

最終結(jié)論是“你應(yīng)該等待一個更好的報價，但要在5月18日前進行預(yù)訂，”——旅客可以選擇繼續(xù)關(guān)注路線并接收最新信息。

Another search for flights from London to New York, departing on May 29, and returning a week later, produced a different result.

另一趟機票搜索，則產(chǎn)生了不同的結(jié)果。該行程是倫敦到紐約，5月29日起飛，并于一周后返回。

“A great deal is available right now at $590 (£391) roundtrip,” it urges. “You should book now. We haven’t seen a price this low for the past seven months.”

“現(xiàn)在就有非常好的報價，往返票價為590美元(約391英鎊)，”應(yīng)用極力向你推薦。“你應(yīng)該現(xiàn)在就訂票。這是7個月來，我們看到的最低價格。”

If you want to book (it's a 7.55am departure via Dusseldorf, incidentally), you're redirected to the airline's website to do so.

如果你想訂購(順便一提，該航班早7點55分從杜塞爾多夫出發(fā))，你會重新轉(zhuǎn)到航空公司網(wǎng)站來完成后續(xù)操作。

Telegraph Travel's consumer editor, Nick Trend, said: "If this app proves reliable, then it could save time and money. But it will need to prove that it can guage and predict future fares, and there are lots of complications and pitfalls in doing this - such as the effects of one-off events on demand for flights, for example. The app is also currently showing fares only in US dollars - British users will want prices in pounds. So, it is worth looking at, but I would also check fares on another app, such as Skyscanner, to be sure you are finding the best prices."

《每日電訊》旅游版消費編輯尼克·特倫德(Nick Trend)說：“如果這個應(yīng)用被證實是確實可靠的，那么它將可以節(jié)省時間和金錢。但它需要證明它可以測量和預(yù)測未來的價格走勢，而在此過程中會出現(xiàn)一次性事件對航班需求的影響等很多復(fù)雜的問題和缺陷。而應(yīng)用目前價格顯示只有美元——英國用戶則希望價格以英鎊形式顯示。因此，它是值得一看，但我也會通過Skyscanner等其他應(yīng)用程序查詢票價，確保你能找到最好的價格。”

Vocabulary

pinpoint: 精確地找到

digest: 摘要

real-time: 實時的

verdict: 結(jié)論

roundtrip: 往返航程

reliable: 可靠的