You have a nasty and suspicious mind hehe.

Welcome to the forum by the way.

I think quite possibly some of the bucket-shops do that but I haven't noticed the major airlines doing it.

I suggest you Google "airline seat allocation problem". You'll see how there can be several prices for the same seats.

Airline revenue management is complicated, but just for illustration, in the Economy section there may only be 12 seats at the lowest price, another 12 at the second lowest price and so on. Once these seats are 'sold out', the price you see online will increase. Generally speaking, on busy routes the nearer you get to the flight date, the higher the seat price will be.

JC3

That is certainly true JC3 but I do have some friends who are bucket-shoppers and they change their IP address before buying because they are convinced the price goes up the more they visit the site.

But then they also think there are people living on the other side of the moon

One answer is to use a 3 step approach.
1) Use a travel search engine like Skyscanner.net to check prices and airlines, then
2) Having found what looks reasonable, re-check the price on your chosen airline's own website using the 'flexible travel dates' option. Airline websites often display a calendar clearly showing what are the cheapest days and flights on which to depart and return. This latter information is not generally available on the travel search engines.
3) Don't forget to also do Step Two with your second and third choice of airline from Step One, because if you entered 'expensive' dates at Step One, you can't find the best price.

JC3

You've just convinced me. There probably are people living on the other side of the moon

Yes, but much fewer flight options.
Try: Virgin Galactic, the world's first commercial spaceline

JC3

A new air-side transit hotel at Changi International Airport called Aerotel Singapore has just opened, near the boarding gates at Terminal 1.

It has an outdoor swimming pool, a jacuzzi, and a pool-side bar, free Wi-Fi etc. with rates based on a six-hour block starting from US$39.

Might be handy on occasions.

See: Aerotel Airport Transit Hotel

JC3

So about 160 ringgits. That's handy isn't it. Must say I do like travelling through Changi. Just so organized.

Another trick to convince you to book quickly is the message "only a few seats left at this price". I once fell for this trick to find six weeks later that there were still a few seats left, at the same price.....

Hi SushiFan,

I am convinced these messages are false or purposely misleading on occasions. That said, I think they are often true. The logic used, especially by low cost carriers, can seem weird.

If the airline is using ‘fare buckets’ then you can test how many seats are really left in the ‘fare bucket’ using a dummy booking for a bigger group of people (and/or to test for the truth).

Once you go over the number of seats still remaining in that ‘fare bucket’, you'll be offered tickets from the next, more expensive fare bucket.

If you are booking flights for a family or large group, it’s worth remembering that in a group booking all the tickets must come from the same fare bucket.

So it can be cheaper to split a group booking into two parts. For example if there are 4 passengers in the group, it may be better to book the last 2 remaining seats at the lower price, and the next 2 seats at the increased price (i.e. and not all 4 seats from the higher-priced fare bucket).

As the flight date draws ever nearer, if an airline finds that its plane is only half full, it may of course choose to drop its prices or re-introduce the ‘bargain bucket’ fares once more to attract passengers.

JC3

JC3, you really sound like an expert on this topic. I will remember your advice.

You should hear his aircraft impersonations

Guilty.
"Ladies and gentlemen we will be landing shortly...
Whoa, big fella, whoa!"

JC747

I went to school in Scotland so cringe everytime I'm on an aircraft in the States when the pilot says "Ladies and Gentlement we will be airborne momentarily so Flight Attendants...take your seats for Take-Off"

Momentarily in US English means 'in a short while' but for UK English it means 'for a short while'.
Also, I worry where he wants the Flight Attendants to take their seats...I thought they were bolted to the floor.