Silly Question re: booking air online

[Robindianne]

OK, don't laugh at my question, but when I search for fares online, some airlines, including Alaska, show a grid-type format. For each flight they show several options ranging from "hot deal" to "bargain" to "value" etc to "first class" and you select the price and restrictions by clicking the radio button for the one you want. Does that mean that the airline allocates so many seat to each category and so when there are no options left for "bargain" those seats are gone and you must pick one of the more expensive categories, and that the prices never go down for those flights? We aren't sure if we should keep checking back or just buy while the slots still exist in the "bargain" category.

Thanks for any advice or thoughts.
Robin

 

[safetymom]

That is correct. They only have so many seats in a fare class and 9 times out of 10 when they are gone there aren't any more at that price waiting to be released.

 

[janets]

there are a certain number of seats allocated to each fare class. At times, an airline will offer a reduced fare.

That said, usually once the seats in a fare class are gone, they will no longer show as available on the grid. So you'd have to pick a higher fare class.

Sometimes a fare sale does come up. But overall my general thought is that you purchase your tickets at a price that is comfortable for you.

 

[Robindianne]

Thanks so much. We'll book right away then.
Robin