Travel search engine Mobissimo gave users of its Facebook app the ability to set up fare alerts.
Mobissimo introduced its travel metasearch solution on Facebook in November and now has added fare alert capabilities, which you can use on its Facebook app but are absent on Mobissimo.com.
Users who navigate to http://apps.facebook.com/mobissimo find a My Alerts widget, which they can personalize through a dashboard.
From there it's possible to search and monitor airfares from a selected airport to a destination of choice.
Fare alerts appear in users' Facebook news feeds, emails or both at daily or weekly intervals. The airfares come from the dozens of airlines and online travel agency website that participate in Mobissimo.
When an airfare increases a red arrow appears next to it. A yellow alert indicates the fare is unchanged and green designates a fare drop.
The customizable dashboard also displays a listing of airfares found by other users from the same origin airport.
The fare alerts' feature is available from Mobissimo in its Facebook app only and can't be found on Mobissimo.com.
The alerts can be edited to change destinations or notification intervals. And users also can view an index of the cheapest fares from the outbound airport of their choosing.
Mobissimo, which specializes in international airfares, positions its app as an alternative way -- other than Google search, that is -- for airlines to reach customers or potential customers on Facebook. Facebook is an especially effective way to reach international travelers, Mobissimo argues. Of Facebook's 500 million active users, Mobissimo notes, 70% are outside the U.S.
Of course, Google search has a little more scale at this point than Mobissimo's Facebook app but, as you know, Google wasn't built in a day, either.
"The profile of Facebook users worldwide is a perfect match for Mobissimo's international focus and global reach," says Beatrice Tarka, Mobissimo's co-founder and CEO. "We give our users access to aifares and hotel properties that no other travel company provides in a single search. With our Facebook integration, we've made it easy for travelers to get the full picture of global travel offers, to find the information they need and personalize it without leaving Facebook."