Airfare - what a difference 24 hours can make!!!!
Oct 12th, 2008, 12:02 PM
#1
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Airfare - what a difference 24 hours can make!!!!
We have our reservations in place for a trip to France and Spain next week. My husband has extra time to take off so we agreed that he should stay and explore for another week. I called Delta to see what it would cost to make the changes and it was going to pretty much be a wash with the airfare approximately the same...$824 round trip. We took a day to be sure that's what we wanted to do. I checked with Delta again and the $824 trip has turned into $2,500.00!! I never imagined that could happen. Husband will be returning as originally planned!
Oct 12th, 2008, 12:18 PM
#2
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I'd wait and check again, could be an error and it might revert to the $824. I was watching a flight and something similar happened, then the next morning it was back to normal. Also had the reverse happen, no explanation that I can find.
Wait 6-24 hours and check again.
It is at least worth a try.
Good luck.
Wait 6-24 hours and check again.
It is at least worth a try.
Good luck.
Oct 12th, 2008, 03:33 PM
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ALWAYS delete cookies when done surfing. Otherwise, websites will use tracked pricing history they keep from your previously fill-in info to address your new inquiries. NEVER, EVER use previously filled fields if getting estimates.
Oct 12th, 2008, 03:55 PM
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It's not uncommon for airfares to fluctuate several times on the same day. I just got a ticket to fly within the U.S. and on the same day the airfare fluctuated from $425. to over $1,000 to $225. I had the credit card out and hopped on the $225. fare which I was waiting for. I had started early morning checking out the fare and then ended up getting it in the early afternoon. And each time, I put in the same flight schedule. So, don't despair. Keep looking. Happy Travels!
Oct 12th, 2008, 04:20 PM
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The main reason air fares fluctuate that much, in my experience, is simply because they have sold out of the fare class that had the lower fare, so there aren't any more seats at that level. Sometimes if people cancel, the fare will drop again if they then have a seat in that cheaper category. That big a difference means it isn't the same fare category.
Oct 13th, 2008, 07:03 PM
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The wild swing in pricing to some part has to do with the limitation of the computational capability. Because the booking systems are expected to generate quotes within reasonable amount of time, the fares representing different segments are broken into fare buckets with a step function in prices to approximate more continuous price/demand curve. Even so, the result is that a given booking engine scans the some subsets of available fare buckets and generate some reasonable, but not exhaustive, set of possible airfares. Consequently, I am suspecting that filling up fare buckets as well as constant tinkering to update fare buckets price/availability along with differences in the way segment combinations are scanned can produce wild price differences.
