# Flight Finder Source Viability

This note records bounded live checks for the first implementation pass.

It is intentionally operational, not aspirational: if a source is blocked here, the skill must treat it as blocked unless later evidence replaces this note.

## Required sources

- KAYAK
- Skyscanner
- Expedia
- airline direct-booking cross-check

## Status

Checked on `2026-03-30` from Stefano's MacBook Air, with no VPN active, using the existing local `web-automation` / CloakBrowser probe scripts.

Route used for bounded checks:

- `DFW -> BLQ`
- outbound date: `2026-05-30`
- travelers: `3 adults`

### KAYAK

- Status: `viable`
- Probe: `node flight_kayak_sweep.mjs DFW BLQ 3 /tmp/flight-finder-kayak-dates.json ...`
- Evidence:
  - title returned as `DFW to BLQ, 5/30`
  - results included multiple one-stop itineraries with parsed USD fares such as `$877`, `$949`, `$955`
  - direct-booking hints were visible for British Airways on at least some results
- Implementation note:
  - KAYAK can be a primary source in this first implementation pass
  - parsed text is workable, but still brittle enough that bounded retries and status fallback remain necessary

### Skyscanner

- Status: `viable`
- Probe: `node tmp_skyscanner_probe.mjs 'https://www.skyscanner.com/transport/flights/dfw/blq/260530/?adultsv2=3&cabinclass=economy&rtn=0'`
- Evidence:
  - title returned as `Cheap flights from Dallas to Bologna on Skyscanner`
  - results page exposed concrete prices, total trip prices, stops, and itinerary text
  - one-stop and multi-stop options were visible in the captured text
- Implementation note:
  - Skyscanner is viable for bounded result capture in this first pass
  - itinerary extraction should still be treated as text-scrape, not a stable API

### Expedia

- Status: `viable`
- Probe: `node tmp_expedia_probe.mjs 'https://www.expedia.com/Flights-Search?...'`
- Evidence:
  - title returned as `DFW to BLQ flights`
  - results page exposed current lowest price, airline/stops filters, and concrete per-traveler options such as `$877`, `$949`, `$961`
  - Expedia text already surfaced some itinerary summaries in a report-friendly format
- Implementation note:
  - Expedia is viable for bounded result capture in this first pass
  - as with the other aggregators, source-specific timeouts and fallback rules are still required

### Airline direct-booking cross-check

- Status: `degraded`
- Probe: `node tmp_skyscanner_probe.mjs 'https://www.united.com/en/us/fsr/choose-flights?...'`
- Evidence:
  - United's booking shell loaded and recognized the route / date context
  - the search then returned `united.com was unable to complete your request. Please try again later.`
- Implementation note:
  - direct-airline cross-checking remains in scope, but it should be treated as best-effort in the first pass
  - when a direct site fails or refuses completion, the skill should record the failure explicitly instead of hanging or pretending a clean cross-check happened

## Scope decision for implementation pass 1

- Primary bounded search sources: `KAYAK`, `Skyscanner`, `Expedia`
- Direct-airline cross-check: `best-effort / degraded`
- The skill should continue if the direct-airline step fails, but the report must say that the direct cross-check was not fully completed