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-   -   "Prices are not guaranteed until purchased" (https://www.fodors.com/community/air-travel/prices-are-not-guaranteed-until-purchased-181595/)

bean Mar 25th, 2002 06:40 PM

"Prices are not guaranteed until purchased"
 
I found a great fare on usairways.com this morning and made the reservation hold right away. It was for my trip to a friend's wedding in June, so I had to contact him and confirm that the arrival time would be okay. Later in the day, I logged back into my reservation page and saw the price had increased by $150 per ticket!! I know that "prices are not guaranteed until purchased", but wow, I still can't get over what happened in a matter of hours. In any case, I'm not getting the tickets.... <BR>Has anyone experienced the same?

Jim Rosenberg Mar 26th, 2002 01:03 AM

I haven't had it happen, but the risk is certainly there. With luck, you'll get another whack at that lower fare and now that you know the number you're looking for, you should be ready to pull the trigger. It might be a good one to have the travelocity fare watcher monitor for you.

Statia Mar 27th, 2002 01:31 PM

Yep.....I've had it happen within a matter of thirty minutes. I was SO ticked. When I find a good fare now, I book it immeidately if I'm sure of my travel dates.

xxx Mar 27th, 2002 02:23 PM

They do tell you this when you are making a booking. Rare that it happens within the day but it does happen. Sometimes web fares fluctuate more so than prices you are quoted over the phone. I think that some times the webfares that are mis quotes clear up quickly. That is why they are here and gone. I had fares do that for me and they were for a seat several months in advance and it happened repeatedly in a few days. You can't tell me it is not a technical glitch when I just happen to loose 2-3 different fares within minutes of eachother. Up one minute went back to check it next minute gone. Does not happen two months before a flight and when the fare has not been advertised.

Statia Mar 27th, 2002 02:56 PM

When it happened to me, though, it was by phone, rather than on line. I called back 30 minutes later after confirming my plans, and the fare had been raised. However, I am aware that until the reservation is paid for, nothing is guaranteed. Lesson learned.

r-travels Mar 29th, 2002 07:18 AM

It's happened to me. Put a hold on a USAirways flight, so I could check w/ the boss to see if I could get a few days off. A few hours later, the price had DOUBLED.<BR><BR>I started the search all over again, and booked the exact same itinerary, but with seats 1 row back from the original reservation, and got my original price! This time I booked immediately, and cancelled the "held" reservation which had doubled in price. (no x in my e-ddress)

really Mar 29th, 2002 06:05 PM

Duh I am amazed the travel agent isn't gettint the blame here.

tomas Mar 30th, 2002 05:25 AM

Pardon the conspiracy theory, but with airline pricing based not on actual costs but on supply and demand, perhaps pricing is changed based upon web site query activity within certain city pairs? Just a thought...it sure would be easy enough to track.


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