Yahoo's new FareChase tool aims to search out the lowest airfares and hotel rates online.

Yahoo! FareChase is not a travel agency, it is a search engine designed to save you both time and money by providing you with comparison shopping options from travel providers and other popular travel websites.

Sounds pretty much exactly like the mission of the not-yet-launched Farecast, the Seattle-based fare search site. The company is hosting a private beta right now and isn't saying when it will launch. I wonder if FareChase is having any effect on Farecast's release date.