Microsoft is the mystery buyer of Farecast, the Seattle online travel startup. Farecast is a travel search provider which predicts when there is the most ideal time for travellers to purchase tickets.
John Cook is reporting that Farecast has been acquired by Microsoft for $115 million.

The buyout of Farecast was confirmed on the Farecast Blog:
‘We’re excited to confirm that Farecast has been acquired by Microsoft. This acquisition creates tremendous opportunities for the Farecast team and our customers.’

Farecast is an online travel search engine that attempts to predict whether airfares will rise or fall on domestic and international routes. For example, Farecast recommended Thursday that travelers purchase now a Seattle to Cleveland flight for early July because prices will be rising over the next week. It offers a confidence level of 71 percent on that prediction.

More recently, Farecast has expanded into helping people find potential bargains on hotel rooms. Some have questioned the accuracy of the airfare predictions, but the company has said in the past that it gets the predictions right about 70 percent of the time. Its Fare Guard service allows travelers to lock in the prices on some flights and receive a refund if the predictions turn out to be wrong.

Get the full story at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer