The airlines typically oversell by several seats.
This was my presumption as well, but we bought our tickets four days before the flight this October for the lowest price they normally run.
I don’t think it’s supply and demand. I recently booked a short flight. It was $380ish first time I looked. Two days later, it dropped to $261. I jumped at the chance and booked. It was for a February trip. I doubt supply increased or demand dropped so much in the space of two days.
They have gotten much better at calculating pricing and seating. Rarely is there an more than an empty seat or two on a flight. And if there are too many empty seats, they cancel the flight.
What I hate is the cookies they place on your computer for the opposite reason the OP stated. They tend to give you the best price the very first time you visit. I am a comparison shopper who likes to check around to figure out the market prices. A visit back to the airline and the price is higher! All because they know I am a return visitor. What a game.
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I don’t think it’s supply and demand. I recently booked a short flight. It was $380ish first time I looked. Two days later, it dropped to $261. I jumped at the chance and booked. It was for a February trip. I doubt supply increased or demand dropped so much in the space of two days.’
They know what they are doing it is not just random. is the formula applied 100% accurate? no but they win more than they lose…just like a casino.
No one said it was random. Its airline revenue management. http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/16/aviation/airline-pricing-secrets
I don’t really mind minor cost changes. Our difference was over $100 per ticket, 5 days later,unfortunately outside the 24 hour window. Totally agree on not looking back. This time it popped up on a side bar in an ad. Usually these ads are harmless shopping items especially near the holidays and I easily ignore them. But this was for MY flight!!! I assumed the ad was for a different time window,which is common, so foolish me checked to make me feel better. No…exact same days, same flights. I swear it felt like the ‘ad or airline gods’ wanted to irritate me on purpose! Never found a way to turn off the ads!
@MassDaD68, I’m in the same boat, in terms of price comparisons. I have read something about clearing your either cookies or history (I can’t remember which) so this doesn’t occur but I just open a new browser and do the second search. I do wonder how long it (the “memory” of your initial search) lasts because, if I think the price is too high but I still want or need to book the tickets, I look again one or two days later.
Private browser I believe is important so there are no cookies. I search on my iphone and iPad and then buy on my desktop PC. When prices are crazy, I call the travel agent and sometimes he has a better deal he can get and offer us, especially if the price just rose.
Clear your cookies and/or use another device.
@HImom, what is a private browser?
There is an app in iPhone called private browser. Basically, it doesn’t keep cookies of where you’ve searched so the website has no idea that you’ve been looking for x and can’t adjust the prices accordingly.
Chrome and Firefox also have private browsers. Chrome’s is called “going incognito”. Firefox’s is called “private window”.
You can also delete your cookies but I don’t do that–just more work.
Went into the bar sweating and exhausted, the barman figured I could pay $20 for my beer.
Safari also has a private window! I’ll be using that from now on for on=line banking.
Which private browser app is trustworthy?
They all are? Maybe? I just checked on the price of my Southwest flights in Feb. The price went down by about 15%. I called them and they are honoring the lower price. Yay!
@HImom - which privatepbrowser app do you use? I am very cautious when using apps developed by unknown peoople, especially if it would be an app that I’d where Id be accessing personal/payment info