'Secret' cheap airline fares

Photo: The Canadian Press

Airfare prediction app Hopper says Canada's two largest airlines are partnering with it to unload some of their seats via "secret fares" starting today at up to a 35 per cent discount.

Air Canada and WestJet are among the first global airlines to make their flights available for the large discounts.

Montreal-based Hopper says other airlines such as LATAM, Turkish, Copa, and Air China will be joined by other carriers in the coming weeks.

The secret fares are available on more than 60,000 routes to international destinations like Tokyo, Melbourne, Paris, Barcelona, Rio De Janeiro, and Costa Rica.

The app will alert users to secret fares that could result in savings of up to $500 on long-haul flights.

Hopper says these low fares aren't available online.

Instead, it communicates directly with app users to avoid triggering a competitive reaction that could lead to a fare war among airlines.

The mobile app maker says more than 20 per cent of its sales are generated by its artificial intelligence algorithms that make recommendations for trips that passengers may not have even searched for.

Hopper says more than 60 per cent of its users are millennials, 90 per cent are leisure travellers and 52 per cent are travelling internationally.