Legacy Airline pricing is still Wacky!

[pumpkinboy]

So today I bought an airline ticket (Delta) where adding on an extra flight segment to a regular return ticket, actually reduced the price of the total trip. Specifically, a return flight BOS-MCO, MCO-BOS ran $20 more than the exact same flight with a BOS-PWM puddle jumper segment at the end (same flights plus one).

Here's the background: my family and my parents are going down to WDW in April for Mass school break, and we decided my 9 yr old niece would really enjoy it, so we've been plotting to take her with us (Birthday present). So anyway, I've been tracking fares on our specific flights: down from Boston with us, then back to Portland ME with my parents two days before us (giving DW, DD, DS and I a couple of family days alone).

So here's the flight pattern we were tracking: BOS to MCO direct on the exact flight we're on on the Friday of April school break, and then the return flight on the following Thurs needed to be the exact flight my parents are on MCO-BOS then BOS-PWM. The price dropped on the exact flights I was tracking today (from astronomical to moderately expensive, and I nailed them. Then for fun, I plugged in just the BOS-MCO return, and it came out $20 more. And the coolest thing was, that on the puddle-jumper segment, I nabbed the last seat on the plane (really, I checked back with Delta on it). Plus, I called the helpful Delta people after booking it online, and switched the seats around to have her sitting with us on the way down and with her grandparents on the way back.

So go figure , add a hop at the end, and it drops the price? I know they have complex pricing algorithms, but sometimes they just come out wacky, even if they are in my favor.

 

[betterlatethannever]

...So go figure , add a hop at the end, and it drops the price? I know they have complex pricing algorithms, but sometimes they just come out wacky, even if they are in my favor.

I'm sure many people have experience with the strange airline pricing.

About 5 years ago, a RT flight from CLE to DFW on Continental was about $1100.

If you added a leg to/from Akron (about 45 miles from CLE), the RT price dropped to about $350.

Ed

 

[BigTigger]

It's the same going to Vegas. If you continue on to LAX you pay about one half of a direct flight. Most carriers allow open legs, so a lot of times if you don't mind going home the long way you can save. Here's an example:

BOS-LAS-BOS was about $900

BOS-LAS-LAX-BOS was $440. I used an open leg to spend days 1-5 in Vegas and flew to LAX on day 6. I then flew home an hour later from LAX to BOS. This won't work all the time as I've had airlines flag the home leg and require a longer stay.

One other thing to note - Delta/Song/Delta Connection/Delta Shuttle all move to the new terminal A in April. You may find your flights are some of the first ones out of the new terminal.

 

[pumpkinboy]

...One other thing to note - Delta/Song/Delta Connection/Delta Shuttle all move to the new terminal A in April. You may find your flights are some of the first ones out of the new terminal.

Cool! I knew Delta was rehabbing the old Eastern terminal (aka Terminal A), but wasn't sure the schedule. I will look forward to trying out a brand new terminal!

 

[OKW Lover]

Cool! I knew Delta was rehabbing the old Eastern terminal (aka Terminal A), but wasn't sure the schedule. I will look forward to trying out a brand new terminal!

Its actually a complete tear-down and re-build. The new building is already looking good.