What we collect, why, and your rights.
1. Who we are
FareGrade ("we," "us," or "our") is operated by Alain Castellanos Pineda, based in Houston, Texas, USA. The site is at faregrade.app. Contact: through the "Get in touch" form on the homepage.
2. Information we collect
Information you give us directly
- Contact form — when you message us through the "Get in touch" form, we collect your name, email address, and message text. This is processed by Netlify Forms (our hosting provider) and forwarded to the site operator's email.
- Alert sign-ups — if you submit your email to be alerted when a fare grades A or A+, that email is stored locally in your browser (via
localStorage) and is not currently transmitted to or stored on our servers. If we ever build server-side alert delivery, we will update this policy and only use the email for that one purpose.
Information collected automatically
- Anonymous analytics — we use Umami, a privacy-focused analytics platform that does not use cookies and does not collect IP addresses or personal identifiers. We see aggregate counts of visitors, top pages, top referrers, country (derived from request, not stored), and which features are used (e.g., what routes are most-searched). We cannot identify any individual user from this data.
- Server logs — Netlify (our host) maintains standard request logs that may include IP addresses, browser type, and timestamps. These are retained per Netlify's policy and used solely for security and operational purposes.
What we don't collect
- We do not use tracking cookies, third-party advertising trackers, or fingerprinting.
- We do not collect payment information — we don't take payments.
- We do not collect demographic, location, or social-graph data.
3. How we use the information
- Contact-form messages — to read and respond to your message. Nothing else.
- Aggregate analytics — to understand which features are used, which routes are popular, and how to improve the product.
- Server logs — to operate the site and prevent abuse.
We do not sell, rent, or trade your information. We do not use it to advertise to you elsewhere.
4. Third parties we work with
FareGrade relies on a few external services. We send them only the minimum needed:
- Netlify — hosts the site and processes contact form submissions.
- Umami Cloud — anonymous, cookieless web analytics.
- Travelpayouts — provides live flight pricing data. We send only the route (origin airport, destination airport, dates) — never your name, email, or any personal info. The token used to authenticate is server-side only.
- Aviasales — when you click any "Book on Aviasales" link, you leave FareGrade and enter Aviasales, which has its own privacy policy. We pass an affiliate marker so they can attribute the click to us; no personal data is shared.
5. Affiliate links and commerce
FareGrade contains affiliate links to Aviasales (operated by Travelpayouts). When you click one of these links and complete a booking, we may earn a commission. This commission never affects the grade you see, the routes we surface, or any prediction or recommendation we make. The grading engine and live-price comparison are independent of the affiliate relationship. Per FTC guidance (16 CFR § 255), we disclose affiliate links adjacent to every booking link and in our footer.
6. Your rights
Regardless of where you live, you can email us through the contact form to:
- Ask what data we have about you (we'll usually answer: just any contact-form messages you've sent us)
- Request that we delete your data
- Request a correction
- Withdraw consent for any processing
If you're in the European Economic Area or UK (GDPR)
You have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation, including the right to access, rectify, erase, or restrict processing of your personal data, and the right to data portability. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority. The legal bases we rely on are: consent (when you submit a form), and legitimate interest (operating the site and aggregate analytics).
If you're in California (CCPA / CPRA)
You have the right to know what personal information we collect, to request deletion, to correct inaccurate information, and to opt out of any "sale" or "sharing" of personal information. We do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.
7. Data retention
- Contact-form messages — retained as long as needed to respond and maintain a record of correspondence; deleted on request.
- Analytics data — aggregated and retained per Umami Cloud's policy; not personally identifiable.
- Server logs — retained per Netlify's standard log-retention policy.
8. Cookies
FareGrade does not use tracking cookies. The site uses your browser's localStorage only to remember:
- Your language preference (English or Spanish)
- An alert email address if you submitted one (so we don't ask twice)
- Cached fare data for ~6 hours to reduce API calls
You can clear this any time via your browser's "Clear site data" feature.
9. Children's privacy
FareGrade is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If you believe we have, contact us and we will delete it.
10. International transfers
FareGrade is operated from the United States. By using the site, you understand that your information may be processed in the US. Where required, we rely on standard contractual clauses or equivalent safeguards through our third-party providers.
11. Security
We use industry-standard security practices: HTTPS for all traffic, server-side storage of API credentials (never in the browser), and minimal data collection. No system is perfectly secure, but we keep our data surface small intentionally.
12. Changes to this policy
If we update this policy materially, we will post the new version here with a fresh "Last updated" date. Continued use of FareGrade after a change means you accept the updated policy.
13. Contact
Questions, complaints, or requests? Use the "Get in touch" form on the homepage. We read every message and respond within 48 hours.