AA dings Ding

American Airlines has rolled out a test of their version of Ding!, the desktop software that Southwest customers can use to be alerted the instant fares go on sale.

American's software is called DealFinder, and works in much the same way - it runs in the background on your computer, and alerts you when low fares in your favorite cities and on preferred dates show up. It also has a feature American says it unique, which is the ability to match fares with your desired price.

So if you want to fly from D/FW to London, and want to pay no more than $400, it will keep track of the fares and let you know if prices fall that low.

American folks have told us that, while in development, their software was referred to as "Dang!" and, occasionally, as "The Ding! Killer." We're told it will be widely available (for free) by the end of the month.

- Trebor