Just letting you know, I went on this website. CHEAPOAIR.COM They advertised $438 RT tickets to Paris. I called and of course, it wasnt available. The customer service rep was trying to avoid this advertisement. I asked her how often they change their website if a "special" was not available and she said every 3 days. I will check again on Saturday and if it is still advertised, I will ask to speak to a supervisor and demand the $438rt airfare that they advertise. What do you guys think??

I think you'll be wasting your time. What do you think, the CSR is keeping the price on, and the management doesn't know?

Orbitz is doing the same, you see the small price, but on the next page it's not available.

Bait & Switch then? I thought there was some type of "false advertisement" protection? Maybe I am being naive, but how long can a company knowingly advertise what isn't available??

I don't know. But BBB should. Better Business Bureau that is. You can ask them.

Its worth a try. I will check the ad again tomorrow and if its still up, I will call cheapoair and see what they say. Who knows? It cant hurt. Maybe I CAN get Paris for $438RT!! If not, BBB it is! Thanks.

Good luck, and let us know what happens.

I always see ads like that from travel agents.

They may in fact have those fares, but they are for off season.

Airlines also send emails with special fares at a certain price. It may only be for a given number of days.

A "published" fare does not mean it's available at any given moment. Major airlines use Global Distribution System, such as Amadeus, SABRE, etc. These are computerized airline/hotel reservation systems.

The airlines load up fares into the GDS they use but not necessarily release all the fares. What some of these web sites do is to advertise the lowest fares loaded but unfortunately the fares may not be available for purchase at the time you want it.