After having exited the travel business once before by spinning off Expedia, the Redmond company appears to stepping back in by scooping up a Washington-based startup called Farecast. However, this new website is not exactly like Expedia, or any other travel sites for that matter. Instead it essentially provides forecasts of whether fares would rise or fall on a specific route. From there, it provides a recommendation of whether to buy the ticket now or wait.
Although neither side is disclosing how much the deal was worth, it is estimated to be in the neighborhood of $115 million."We"re excited to confirm that Farecast has been acquired by Microsoft," CEO Hugh Crean said. "This acquisition creates tremendous opportunities for the Farecast team and our customers."