KCGirl

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to fly to NYC from Kansas City on June 24 for a few days. Airfare is unusually high ($400-500 for the times I need) I think because there are few seats available on the 24th. I've using ItaSoftware.com to check prices throughout the day. Twice today I've seen the price drop to about $250 for 4-6 different flight combinations. I immediately went to Orbitz to book the flight. Orbitz did have the flights listed for the same price as Itasoftware, but when I tried to book it, it said the price was no longer available. The second time I saw the low prices on Itasoftware, I went to Orbitz and called the airline directly at the same time. I thought I would start the process of booking the flights both ways, and hopefully be able to book it one fo the ways. The same thing happenned at Orbitz as before, and by the time I was able to talk to a person at the airline that fare wasn't available. I did also check the airlines website to book it that way, but the lower price never showed up there at all.

After that long story, my question is, when I do see a low price on ITASoftware, is it actually possible to book it for that price? I figure it's either A) a glitch with ITASoftware, and Orbitz, and the airfare should not be listed for that low price, or B)The airline releases just a few tickets at a low price, but by the time I've tried to get them someone else has already purchased them.

If the airline really does release just a few at a time, does anyone know of a faster way to book the flight? It would be nice if there were some sort of automatic booking procedure, where I give my credit card number, and say if the price of the tickets drops below a certain amount it's automatically purchased. But as far as I know, nothing like this exists.

Any tips or advice? Thanks!

BTW, the airline that I was trying to book with is Northwest. I'm willing to fly any airline though!

gail

I have always been able to access the fare listed on itasoftware directly at the airline site, not something like orbitz or travelocity.

For some reason, with USAirways it only works if I choose "flexible dates" - on other airlines it is called something like "shop for lowest fare" - and then select the dates I want.

KCGirl

Thanks Gail. I've never had a problem obtaining the fares listed on Ita before either. I would have used Northwest's website, but I wasn't able to get that price on their website. Hopefully I'll see a low price pop up again, and I just try calling again and hope for the best!

Where2Travel

Can someone explain briefly how www.itasoftare.com works. I use it a lot and find it very useful for getting an idea of prices available.

Does it just link to the different airline websites to get the prices behind the scenes or it there something more clever going on?

Intrepid1

If you click on "details" to the left of the itinerary and go to the next screen you can get the fare basis by clicking on "booking details"...when dealing directly with the airline sometimes knowing that helps.

Also you'll notice that the prices come up for particular segments at particular times and to get the same fare, if it is still available, you probably have to travel on those same segments.

joan

KCGirl, as intrepid mentioned, the booking codes make a big difference. When you spoke with the airline/Orbitz, did you ask them to plug in the ITA booking codes used to get the low fare? I think they need to use the exact same codes.

ITA does not always seem to have up to date (lowest) prices...in my little bit of experience.

KCGirl

Thanks Intrepid and Joan. I did see the booking details. When I spoke to the airline, I mentioned that I had the booking codes to get that price, and the customer service rep said it didn't matter since that price was no longer available. If I happen to see a low price again, I'll ask the rep to try to codes anyways. And someone else said if you don't get the answer you want with the first rep, try calling again! I'll try that as well. Thanks for the help!

Keith

Last week a friend shopping for tickets to Jordan found a good buy on ITA. He immediately called a travel agent who said those fares were not available.

He faxed the agent the booking details, and a few minutes later had the tickets for that price.

He saved over $400.

Keith