MONTREAL -- Canada's two largest airlines are using an airfare prediction app to unload some of their seats via "secret fares" at discounts of up to 35 per cent.
Air Canada (C.TO) and WestJet (WJA.TO) are among the first global airlines to make their flights available for the large discounts, starting Wednesday.
Montreal-based app developer Hopper said other airlines such as LATAM, Turkish, Copa, and Air China will be joined by other carriers in the coming weeks.
The discounts 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 said 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.
"We communicate with users privately via push notification to offer personalized recommendations and data-driven advice," it said in a news release, noting that it sends more than 400 million push notifications a year.
Air Canada didn't respond to requests for comment, but WestJet said mobile use is an important way for it to connect with potential customers, along with its own website and travel agents.
"Hopper, as with other online travel agents that WestJet works with, sells both published and private fares," said spokeswoman Lauren Stewart in an email.
She said private fares are provided to travel agencies at a discounted rate depending on the needs of the airline.
"This is standard and a long-standing practice in the commercial aviation industry," she added.
Hopper said 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.
Unlike some online searches that don't identify the provider, the secret fares provide all details about the flight such as the airline, departure time and arrival time before booking.
Hopper said more than 60 per cent of its users are millennials, 90 per cent are leisure travellers and 52 per cent are travelling internationally.
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