Wait- where'd my airfare go?

[curiouser]

I'm hoping someone here with a bit more knowledge of airfares than I can help me with my question. I found flights today on Continental direct MCO at a fantastic price. There are 6 of us going, so I checked on a party of 6 and the price was available for all of us. We talked to all parties involved and two of the six decided to buy their own tickets instead of owing me money.

They decided this while I was out running so I just found out now and logged on to get our tickets for four. Well now our airfare is gone! They want more for the return flight, raising the price $50 a person. I double checked the seating chart from what I saw earlier and only two new seats have been filled (by the above said party of 2). Any idea why my airfare price isn't there anymore for us remaining four?

 

[ParrotBill]

Airfares can change in the blink of an eye based on computer models for capacity controls. It's entirely possible that the change of 2 less seats did it... or you hit a window in which the fare was only valid until a certain time and day and then expired.

 

[seashoreCM]

Still someone else may have bought tickets. When you try to book four seats and there are no more than three at one fare, the system quotes the next higher fare tier for all of your proposed seats.

Is the fare higher if you book over the phone? If not, when you deal with a live person s/he can claim the remaining cheap seats while you give names and credit card numbers whereas booking on line you face the possibility someone who can type faster may take the cheap seats out from under you.

If you find cheap seats on a different flight you can still use Magical Express. Each group should bring copies of the room reservations (six people equals at least two rooms) along with the ME vouchers and booklet.