Interesting development on my tickets....

[soarinup]

I looked at the seats available on my flight 2 weeks ago, only one other seat was sold on my flight. Today, there were 9 more seats sold. I'm flying in September. The price went up after I bought my tickets, then went down again...........Huh?

 

[mickey2000]

I looked at the seats available on my flight 2 weeks ago, only one other seat was sold on my flight. Today, there were 9 more seats sold. I'm flying in September. The price went up after I bought my tickets, then went down again...........Huh?

Can you give more info ??
Which airline and where from ??

 

[tinka-belle]

There are two scenarios that would show changes in fares.

1. The airline sells the alloted number of seats (this is an ever changing number) at a certain fare level so the price bumps up for others looking to buy. Not only are there usually fewer seats at the lowest fare levels on any given flight on any given day, but the airline can add or subtract from that fare bucket anytime depending on competition and demand. Or they can offer cheaper seats on off peak days or off peak times to sell slow filling flights. This will change several times over the course of time that a flight is offered for sale. So prices could be plus or minus depending on when you look at them.

2. The airline actually changes fares at all levels for that city pair or date. This is very common, posted fares can be changed several times per week or day. Sometimes a short term sale is offered that would lower pricing for a few days. In general with oil prices rising some fares are being increased by $10 or $20 at a time for summer travel, and have been raised several times this year already. Same result, prices could be plus or minus.

Airfares are not a fixed price commodity anymore. Quite the opposite. The pricing is very fluid and can vary widely even over the course of one day. The best strategy is to know what price you are comfortable with, what the current price trend is for your travel time and city pairs, and to buy as soon as you see what you want within reason.

 

[DebbieB]

I looked at the seats available on my flight 2 weeks ago, only one other seat was sold on my flight. Today, there were 9 more seats sold. I'm flying in September. The price went up after I bought my tickets, then went down again...........Huh?

That happens all the time. Typically, they have up to 9 seats available in a fare class. When they sell those, the price jumps to the next fare class. However, when they are reviewing the inventories, they sometimes add seats back to the lower price class to be sure they sell.

 

[safetymom]

You also can't look at the seat map for an accurate indication of how many seats are available on a flight.

 

[seashoreCM]

That happens all the time. Typically, they have up to 9 seats available in a fare class..

Many on line systems report a maximum of 9 seats in any fare class even though there might be more that day. (This is because the line of text only allows one character position, for one digit, for the quantity of seats.) In practice the booking of more than 9 seats almost simultaneously by one family or party is rare but even so, you could use trial and error to see how many you can book at a given fare.

A problem with consumer (do it yourself) on line systems, unlike travel agent on line systems, is that the system does not "claim" the seats while you are typing in everybody's name and your credit card number. So it is possible for someone else to book seats from the allotment in the meantime and when you click the "almost ready" button there are not enough seats in that allotment and now ou are quoted a much higher fare for the next fare class or category.

 

[crashbb]

A problem with consumer (do it yourself) on line systems, unlike travel agent on line systems, is that the system does not "claim" the seats while you are typing in everybody's name and your credit card number. So it is possible for someone else to book seats from the allotment in the meantime and when you click the "almost ready" button there are not enough seats in that allotment and now ou are quoted a much higher fare for the next fare class or category.

Not always true. Both airlines that I usually fly "hold" the seats (well, fare class) for 15 minutes while you finish the booking (tells you so, right on the web page).

 

[soarinup]

Sorry if I didn't give enough info...It is US Airways from Charlotte, NC. US Airways has the flights available WAY in advance, unlike some airlines who open up the flights only within a small window beforehand. After I bought it, a few days later the price jumped up to almost double. The price is now only a few dollars higher than what I paid. It goes up and down like that? Its normal?