I was wondering if someone could explain why in hell airfares can change so drastically is such a short amount of time? It is just simply based on the number of tickets available or some crazy ass formulas for supply and demand. I have been so angry over the past couple of days seeing great fares available but then raised by $200+ dollars in a matter of 30 minutes. What the hell is going on?

Eugene, I KNOW what you mean. This actually happened to me yesterday. I put a reservation on "HOLD" for 24 hours. From SJU to EWR round trip American airlines. I called my son, who resides in P.R and asked him if this itinerary worked for him, I then went back to purchase the ticket, and my computer wouldn't let me back in!! So I thought I would just re-purchase the same ticket, and it had increased by $120.00 in a 4 hour time frame!! I then called American, cause I had reserved at the lower price. Problem was I reserved from one computer, then tried to purchase from my home computer and it wouldn't let me back in. I ended up doing it all over the phone with agent. Yes this is exaclty what is happening. I didn't know you couldn't use a different computer. I was at work, when I reserved then tried to purchase from home. (Just to clarify). From my standpoint I think they have so many tickets to sell at a certain price, when a percentage of those are sold, and a particular flight is selling well, then they up the price, and see if they can't get more money for that same flight. This is what I think. I paid $440.00 round trip. Those same flights today, are $560.00. Don't figure. I am not even happy with the $440.00!! Travel is over labor day Holiday!

When booking on the internet, the best time to check is very early in the morning. I think I read after 2am, all of the "hold" reservations get dropped out and so by early morning, the rates go back down. I had checked a fare on Delta one morning for $135 RT...by the afternoon it was $160 and I almost booked it for fear it would just head up more ...but I waited. Early the following morning it was back to $135 again.

x, that is useful info, however, taking into consideration the holiday, and the flight schedule he must adhere to, I am glad I purchased last night. Today, it is up higher than $560.00.

Thanks for the comments. I'm pretty frustrated because I saw a fare of 185 r/t from sjc to mco (which is awesome for the christmas holiday) on aa.com but i didn't have my credit card w/ me. I came back online 30 minutes later and it was 385 r/t. I'll probably have to try priceline now b/c i don't want to spend that much.

Eugene as quickly as it went up it could go back down again. Check often.

Thanks, I will do that. If anyone happens to stumble upon any inexpensive fares from sfo, oak, or sjc to florida (mco, tpa, fll, or mia), please let me know. It would be greatly appreciated.

Eugene:

Go to travelocity and register for its fare tracker. It monitors the fares for specific routes and will send you an e-mail if the fare drops.

Think the mysterious ups & downs of airfares prices is similar to the vagaries of the stock market --- I'd love to hear an explanation from someone who works for an airline as to how they structure the prices to change so frequently. Talk about 'snooze you lose' !

I work for a top airline.
It IS all supply and demand.
I see so many people post ignorant comments blaming the website, agency, etc... for the crazy fluctuation in the price for the exact flights priced 1 hour.. 1 day ago, etc...
They never have anything to do with it.
The pricing is generated by the airlines, not the person selling it.
The plane has x-amount of seat available at this price, x-amount at that price. It can change at the drop of a hat, and often does.
They know the most desirable flights, the travel patterns of business travelers, the odds of selling at this price, the odds of selling at that price.
It is a science.
Distressed inventory is offered at the last minute and could be limited to ONE seat or there may be 100 seats available at that price.
The best thing is to determine the very best fare for the routing and look until you hit it, unless you are willing to gamble that a seat will be available at the last minute.
Ticket IMMEDIATELY when you find the best fare.
I have tested the Travelocity feature and it is GREAT, unless you wait too long.

Good Advice. I definitely need to buy as soon as I see a good fare. One question is if fares actually go down once they've gone up (not including last minute fares). Among all the fares that I looked at, once they've gone up, they keep on going up.

Eugene, I think the best advice is to purchase when you see it. I would have paid less had I purchased last week rather than today. My loss. I gambled and lost. However, it could have been worse. To xx well of course it is the airlines controlling it, I think we all realize this, you who work for a major airlines. Who else? I don't think anyone blames Expedia, or orbitz.

If you read this forum enough, you will see many people complaining about fares changing within minutes, and blaming the agency (online or otherwise).
If the price drops significantly you can get the airline to reprice the reservation. Even if there is a penalty you may come out ahead.

Oh I didn't know you could do this. Well I was complaining yesterday about paying $440.00 rd trip for San Juan to Newark over labor day. I don't feel so bad today cause that same exact flight is now over $800.00. It has nearly doubled in a 24 hour time frame. I can be glad I didn't wait any longer. This is totally unbelievable. (but true.)

Thanks for your responses. I've been checking fares ever since and I actually found a great fare on orbitz from san jose to orlando during the new years holiday for 199. I bought it as soon as I saw it. Only surprising thing is that the same tickets on aa.com are something like 435. Oh well, I'm still quite pleased none the less and thanks for your responses.

Does fare tracker really work? I mean if there is a killer fare in the computer..how soon will Travelocity let you know,right away? Or does it just email you once a week to let you know the deals? If there is a snooze ya lose fare, I think having Travelocity would NOT work. You would have snoozed through it.

I just signed up for the fare tracker. From my understanding, it just emails you the lowest fare available, w/o giving dates. So if you are traveling during a really off peak time, it will probably work very well. But if you're not, then the flights are sold out and you're stuck. You should take the advice of all the people who posted messages in this thread. Just keep checking yourself.

Regarding why airfares change so drastically in such a short amount of time, there is a pretty decent reply to that question by "XXX". Some hotels are using the same type of yield management systems, too. The point is, rates and fares are not static. In fact, the very act of me purchasing tickets on the flight you were looking at could trip the trigger that costs you more for the same ride.

Fare tracker is an excellent tool, but it is only one of several. By checking it yourself instead of waiting for e-mail notification, you can sometimes pick up on something that you would have been seeing in the e-mail service a few hours or a day later. The booking feature lets you see the days/dates with the lowest fares and whether or not they are still available.

Keep in mind that you won't see EVERYTHING with this tool (for example, frequent flier program "cash & miles" -type fares and certain promotions that may only be available through the airline's own website, etc., will not show up on fare tracker). Sometimes, you may be able to obtain/access certain coupons that work only through the airline or affiliated sites.

Still, I think fare watcher is one of the best single tools around for trying to stay on top of changing fares for specific itineraries that you are interested in tracking. And as others have said here, when you see what you are looking for, you should be prepared to jump on it quickly. The longer you track fares, the easier it will be to identify the best values.