Back in July 2006, Travelocity opted to disable the "flexible dates" functionality that allowed customers to search for the best international fares when travel dates were flexible. They did so after failing to reach an agreement with the Department of Transportation on how to show the most accurate fare when factoring in all surcharges, which vary by city and carrier.Well, that wonderful feature is back! According to our friends at Airfarewatchdog.com, Travelocity reintroduced this functionality late last week.
How it works: Let's say you want to travel from San Francisco to Paris (CDG). On the Travelocity website (and really most travel booking sites) you simply enter the travel dates you want to fly and the site returns with the best available prices. Easy enough. But using the flexible dates feature, which Travelocity again offers, the site searches 330 days in advance and reports back the least expensive travel dates. Most other travel sites do not have this extensive international search feature - farecompare.com being a notable exception.
I have not seen an official press release from Travelocity as yet regarding the recent changes. But let's hope this move is permanent, thereby enabling travelers with more tools when making travel plans. Two thumbs up for Travelocity.