Fare Increased Before I Could Click "Buy"

[seashoreCM]

Anyone experienced this? If so, which airline?

Q: Book on line, choose destination, see fare, choose flights, enter information, and when it confirms everything the fare is higher.

This is not bait and switch but rather I will ask the question in a more difficult and technical way to explain the situation.

Q: When you select specific flights during on line booking, does the airline's system claim those seats out of inventory for you immediately. This way the system can't report back to you that all the cheap seats were taken during the several minutes it took you to type in the required information including your credit card number and everyone's names.

By the way, in distant years past, I have often heard a reservationist on the phone mutter under her breath verbatim, "Let me claim those seats for you".

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

This can happen. I have also had it happen on online shopping sites. I have put items in a shopping cart and by the time I checked out, they were no longer available.

Also keep in mind that some airlines don't display the "true" price when you first select flights; you don't see the final price with all the added taxes and fees (which can be well over $100 more), until you pay for the ticket.

 

[paulmc80]

I've had it happen where a message like "That itinerary is no longer available," and when I go back and search again the pricing has changed. Sometimes when I've looked the next day it the pricing I originally wanted became avaialable. Mostly, I've thought to be caused by a database record locking anomaly. Hard to say for sure.

Last night I booked two separate reservations two persons on one, and a single person on the other. I had gone part way thorough the reservation for the single person then had to cancel, but not before I had made a seat selection. When I finally went back a few minutes later I could no longer get the original seat I selected. I tried and hour later with no luck. I tried this morning and the original seat was available.

 

[manning]

I read about this.

When you go to a site, doesn't have to be only airlines, to check a price a cookie is embedded onto your computer. One of several things can happen. Stay long enough and the price will change. Leave the site and come back later and the price has changed.

I understand people are getting irritated with this.

 

[Ella's Mom]

That has happened to me several times. It is frustrating. I don't even think someone else took the seats; it seems like there systems weren't updated.
We booked through Travelocity and they recently had to rebook our flight. They booked us on a United flight at 3:30. When I called United to ask about seats on the flight, they told me the 3:30 flight had been cancelled a few days ago. Travelocity obviously didn't know yet. I checked on Travelocity website and they were still selling flights for a 3:30 flight that didn't exist.

 

[seashoreCM]

We booked through Travelocity and they recently had to rebook our flight. They booked us on a United flight at 3:30. When I called United to ask about seats on the flight, they told me the 3:30 flight had been cancelled a few days ago. Travelocity obviously didn't know yet. I checked on Travelocity website and they were still selling flights for a 3:30 flight that didn't exist.

If you already succeeded in clicking Buy and got the advertised fare (not an obvious misprint) and later the flight is cancelled, the airline has to reschedule you on another of its available flights of your choice without raising the fare.

I would expect that Travelocity would sooner or later claim the seats but before it says your credit card was billed. If the flight was still listed on Travelocity but not on the airline's system, when Travelocity tried to claim the seats it would come up with an error.