I just booked some flights for my wife and me. It was a triangular ininerary, so somewhat complicated. I used Expedia. After a half hour, mulling over options at prices ranging from about $900 to $1200 each, I finally chose one at $1202. I was taken to a page that explained that while was choosing, the price had risen from $2404 to well over $3500. I was given the option of going back and trying again. Which I took. When I went back, the exact original itinerary was shown at the same $1202 price. Since the itinerary was still the best, I decided to try again. This time, it accepted the booking at $2404. What kind of games are these people playing?
I’m struggling with the same thing myself.
It used to be (and may still be) that prices were dependent on time. More than two weeks out, price A. More than one week out but less than two weeks, price A+B. Then it just gets more expensive every day you get closer to flight departure.
But now it seems that it’s dependent on availability, too. So if I’m booking a flight three weeks prior, but it’s a popular weekend, then I can expect to pay 2x or 3x the price I would pay otherwise.
I’m sure I can blame some kind of political group for this. It’s what happens when you deregulate an industry.
There’s been some discussion about whether your cookies are marking you as a shopper circling around a ticket and about to strike. Travel website Johnny Jet recommends clearing your cookies when shopping for airfare to get the lowest possible price.
I’m no cookies expert, but I believe the same technology could be used to give a hesitant buyer a push into the sale by threatening with a looming fare hike. Looks like it may have worked in this case.
I have never seen a price go up and then still be able to book at the original price. I don’t mean to offend but is it possible that you made a mistake? I have used Expedia for most of my bookings for many years and never had that happen. I have also never seen a price jump that big on the same route, same carriers.
OTOH it could have been a glitch on Expedia’s site. I have noticed a trend over the years that as they try to be more sophisticated about what they can offer and how they offer it, and how they can upsell you and otherwise squeeze more money out of you, it is getting more complex to use the site and get consistent results.
That’s an interesting post. When I book on Expedia I am logged into my account so cookies are a moot point. Also, I think flights are priced by the airlines, not by Expedia, so they wouldn’t have anything to gain by gaming prices. But a quick check of American shows that you can price flights without being logged in, so this is good to know if you go direct to airlines’ sites.
This morning USA Today had an article on “Ghost fares”, which seemed similar to what you might be dealing with.
In short, they posit that it is not really possible to have real-time fair and seat updates, so these data are cached in various parts of the travel site and airline site’s servers, often resulting in a price that changes as you start the checkout process.
But it seems awful convenient how frequently these “ghost fares” look helpful for the travel site and not the consumer, so they suggest that companies may be gaming the system.
It doesn’t help that travel sites add bogus “sense of urgency” counters and tickers that aren’t really telling you how many hotel rooms are left or how many seats are left.
I’ve seen this sort of price fuckery on a few occasions on sites like Orbitz and Expedia.
What i sometimes do, with those sites, is find the cheapest fare and then go straight to airline’s own site to see if i can book it there. You can often get the same price directly from the carrier.
I did it a few weeks back. I was looking to fly to Hartford, CT, in late July, and found a good price on one of the discount sites. It told me the airline and the flight time, so I just went straight to the United Airlines site to see if they had the same deal, and they did. Booked it right there.
Many years ago I used Orbitz to book flights. Then many other internet fare sellers came. I logged into Orbitz, and got their price. Then went to Kayak to search further. They offer many sites and their prices. Turned out that if I used Kayak’s link to Orbitz it was cheaper than the price Orbitz gave me. Many things about the ticket game I don’t understand.
Let me repeat what happened. This was a triangular trip–Montreal to Seattle to Boston to Montreal. I entered the trips and dates (which started in mid-Aug and ended two days after Labor Day). They gave me at least two dozen choices, most of which involved the Boston-Montreal leg through NY or Philly or Toronto, which I didn’t like. Another had the Seattle-Boston flight routed through Houston with a 50 min. layover, which is unacceptable since even a few minutes late would kill the connection, or the luggage wouldn’t arrive or whatever. Finally I found one routing that was more or less acceptable at $1202 (the cheapest was about $900). So I clicked on it. Got the message that the fare had jumped from $2404 to something over $3500 for two owing to the airlines having raised their price while I was choosing. Imagine a near 50% increase over those few minutes. Did I want to go back and make another choice? I did and they came up with another menu. As I moved down the list, I found exactly the same itinerary as I had previously chosen (I had written it down; it was the same0, still listed at $1202. So I tried again and this time the price came up as $2404.
I think that the airline was trying to screw me out of an extra $1100 and, when I didn’t bite, went back to the original fares. Hell of a way to do business.
I’ve never had any of the kinds of problems any of you are talking about, and I’ve booked about 20 flights in the past year. I mostly use CheapOair, after searching for the cheapest date at matrix.ita. While searching, I once phoned CheapOair and asked if they would price match on the phone if I wanted to book several connecting flights with separate tickeing and theirs was not always the cheapest, and they said Yes, but I never actually did it.
A few times, I find a price at matrix that is not sold by any online agent and I have to book direct with the airline.
If your imaginative and pick odd connection points, you can find some really low fares. For example, next month I’ll be flying Manila/Doha for $141, one way, as part of a $1450 RTW. But it can be time consuming to search those out.
The last big trip I booked was a 3-leg itinerary, Chicago/Larnaca/Paris/Chicago. It was several hundred dollars cheaper per person to book an open-jaws Chicago/Larnaca, Paris/Chicago ticket, and buy the Larnaca/Paris leg separately. I think much depends on the particular airlines that serve the destinations; some of the budget Euro carriers don’t have alliances with the big global carriers, so they won’t necessarily show up on a Kayak.com search, etc.
I like to deal with the carrier directly, but it certainly helps to do one’s homework beforehand. Let’s say I pick up the phone and call the carrier:
Me: Hi, I need to go from X to Y on July 1.
Airline: Okay, we can do that starting from $600.
Me. Expedia tells me that you can do that starting from $300.
Airline: Okay, we can do that starting from $300.
It sounds a little like the Jedi Mind Trick, but it only works if you’ve done your research beforehand. Best of all, though, dealing with the airline directly avoids surprises, so you know what you’re getting into:
Airline: Sure, we could do that $300 fare, but there will be a $50 checked bag fee, a $25 carryon bag fee, a $100 check-in at the airport fee, $10 for headphones, $25 for advanced seat selection so your party can sit together, [and a whole bunch of other nickel-and-dime fees]. But we can include or reduce all of those under the $600 fare.
My examples are fictional, but they are based on the experiences of my sister who will find the cheapest way to travel–which usually ends up being more expensive in the end. And which she complains about, loudly, to me. (“I got a super-cheap $X fare on Expedia from Calgary to Toronto, and then Air Canada charged me $Y for this, and $Z for that, and $A for something, and $B for something else! It’s outrageous!”)
Meh. Nowadays, I book directly with the airline and fly Business or First, where all of the above (and more) are included. I advised Sis to also (I know she can certainly afford to), but she refuses to spend money where she feels it is unnecessary. And she ends up paying more in the end, due to today’s nickel-and-diming in air travel. And I hear about it.
Wow! That sound as shady as shit! I’d be upset too!
I’ve booked lots of tickets but never heard of this happening before.
But most everyone I know, who travels often, uses flightnetwork. It’s what I use and I’ve never had such a problem. Maybe it’s just an Expedia thing?
(Thanks for the heads up about expedia! )
Well, Expedia is only an example–Sis tries all the online-discount operators before selecting the cheapest and booking through them.
I’ll recommend flightnetwork to her–thanks for the suggestion!