Searching flights online
May 13th 2009, 9:43 pm
#1
BE Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2006
Location: In the middle of two worlds
Posts: 501
Searching flights online
Not sure how true this is and wondering if anyone can confirm or deny......
Someone once told me when you search online for a flight, the more times a date and flight details get a hit, the more chance there is of the flight price going up.
The logic behind this (apparently) is that the airline can track the number of hits, therefore alerting them to the fact there could be a demand for said flight, so they increase the price.
I'm sure there are many of us who keep an eye on certain flights and take a bit of a gamble, hoping the price might go lower, but after being told the above, now I'm hesitant to keep checking every day. Or am I being very gullible?
Someone once told me when you search online for a flight, the more times a date and flight details get a hit, the more chance there is of the flight price going up.
The logic behind this (apparently) is that the airline can track the number of hits, therefore alerting them to the fact there could be a demand for said flight, so they increase the price.
I'm sure there are many of us who keep an eye on certain flights and take a bit of a gamble, hoping the price might go lower, but after being told the above, now I'm hesitant to keep checking every day. Or am I being very gullible?
May 13th 2009, 9:53 pm
#2
Joined: Oct 2006
Location: Reno Nevada
Posts: 15,917
Re: Searching flights online
Not sure how true this is and wondering if anyone can confirm or deny......
Someone once told me when you search online for a flight, the more times a date and flight details get a hit, the more chance there is of the flight price going up.
The logic behind this (apparently) is that the airline can track the number of hits, therefore alerting them to the fact there could be a demand for said flight, so they increase the price.
I'm sure there are many of us who keep an eye on certain flights and take a bit of a gamble, hoping the price might go lower, but after being told the above, now I'm hesitant to keep checking every day. Or am I being very gullible?
Someone once told me when you search online for a flight, the more times a date and flight details get a hit, the more chance there is of the flight price going up.
The logic behind this (apparently) is that the airline can track the number of hits, therefore alerting them to the fact there could be a demand for said flight, so they increase the price.
I'm sure there are many of us who keep an eye on certain flights and take a bit of a gamble, hoping the price might go lower, but after being told the above, now I'm hesitant to keep checking every day. Or am I being very gullible?
Cindy will know
May 13th 2009, 10:29 pm
#3
Joined: Apr 2005
Location: Milwaukie, Oregon
Posts: 9,966
Re: Searching flights online
All but the smallest airlines run very sophisticated reservation management software. It can certainly do what you say if you are using the airlines reservation site to check.
If you are using a third party site then most likely they will not pass the inquiry through to the airlines site unless you reach the stage where they need to check seat availability.
The whole idea of the software is to sell the maximum number of seats producing the most amount of revenue for the flight.
One thing to bear in mind in your scenario. The software can detect the inquiries and tell you are not booking. If the flight is under booked or not receiving the number of sales the software expects it can lower the price. How it works depends on how the airlines has programmed the system.
If you are using a third party site then most likely they will not pass the inquiry through to the airlines site unless you reach the stage where they need to check seat availability.
The whole idea of the software is to sell the maximum number of seats producing the most amount of revenue for the flight.
One thing to bear in mind in your scenario. The software can detect the inquiries and tell you are not booking. If the flight is under booked or not receiving the number of sales the software expects it can lower the price. How it works depends on how the airlines has programmed the system.
Last edited by lansbury; May 13th 2009 at 10:33 pm.
May 14th 2009, 12:41 am
#4
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 6,848
Re: Searching flights online
A great site to use (not just for domestic and international flights but for hotels and car rentals too) is:
http://www.kayak.com (the British version is http://www.kayak.co.uk )
For heavily discounted packages with flights (including quite often the UK, Paris etc.) then it's good to look at:
http://www.lastminute.com
and - I haven't used the following but they're 'bookmarked' in my laptop after being recommended in the past by other posters on Brit Expats:
http://www.bt-store.com
http://www.go-today.com (if going on a quick trip to the UK it can work out cheaper than just paying for a flight alone and you get hotel accommodation too, which you don't need to stay at if you don't want to)
http://www.kayak.com (the British version is http://www.kayak.co.uk )
For heavily discounted packages with flights (including quite often the UK, Paris etc.) then it's good to look at:
http://www.lastminute.com
and - I haven't used the following but they're 'bookmarked' in my laptop after being recommended in the past by other posters on Brit Expats:
http://www.bt-store.com
http://www.go-today.com (if going on a quick trip to the UK it can work out cheaper than just paying for a flight alone and you get hotel accommodation too, which you don't need to stay at if you don't want to)
May 14th 2009, 1:17 am
#5
SUPER MODERATOR
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 88,022
Re: Searching flights online
Not sure how true this is and wondering if anyone can confirm or deny......
Someone once told me when you search online for a flight, the more times a date and flight details get a hit, the more chance there is of the flight price going up.
The logic behind this (apparently) is that the airline can track the number of hits, therefore alerting them to the fact there could be a demand for said flight, so they increase the price.
I'm sure there are many of us who keep an eye on certain flights and take a bit of a gamble, hoping the price might go lower, but after being told the above, now I'm hesitant to keep checking every day. Or am I being very gullible?
Someone once told me when you search online for a flight, the more times a date and flight details get a hit, the more chance there is of the flight price going up.
The logic behind this (apparently) is that the airline can track the number of hits, therefore alerting them to the fact there could be a demand for said flight, so they increase the price.
I'm sure there are many of us who keep an eye on certain flights and take a bit of a gamble, hoping the price might go lower, but after being told the above, now I'm hesitant to keep checking every day. Or am I being very gullible?
Where's Cindy?
May 14th 2009, 12:32 pm
#6
Just Joined
Joined: Mar 2009
Location: Burton on Trent
Posts: 2
Re: Searching flights online
Being an airline pricing manager, I may be able to shed some light on this...
There is a shred of truth to this story, but generally speaking, no, airlines don't have the capability to track "hits" on flight searches and changes the prices in response. The resources required to do this would be too expensive, given the return.
What does happen, though, is that when you search for and select a flight, about the time you get to the stage of selecting a seat assignment, the airline takes that seat out of its available inventory. If you then decide not to complete the booking, there is a delay in getting that seat back into inventory. In the meantime the reduced inventory could have resulted in a higher price (if that was the last east available at that particular price). Once the seat is released back into inventory the price should go back to where it was before. Unless someone else bought it in the meantime of course!
There is a shred of truth to this story, but generally speaking, no, airlines don't have the capability to track "hits" on flight searches and changes the prices in response. The resources required to do this would be too expensive, given the return.
What does happen, though, is that when you search for and select a flight, about the time you get to the stage of selecting a seat assignment, the airline takes that seat out of its available inventory. If you then decide not to complete the booking, there is a delay in getting that seat back into inventory. In the meantime the reduced inventory could have resulted in a higher price (if that was the last east available at that particular price). Once the seat is released back into inventory the price should go back to where it was before. Unless someone else bought it in the meantime of course!
May 14th 2009, 3:11 pm
#7
Nuts with a side of nuts.
Joined: May 2009
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 50
Re: Searching flights online
Being an airline pricing manager, I may be able to shed some light on this...
There is a shred of truth to this story, but generally speaking, no, airlines don't have the capability to track "hits" on flight searches and changes the prices in response. The resources required to do this would be too expensive, given the return.
What does happen, though, is that when you search for and select a flight, about the time you get to the stage of selecting a seat assignment, the airline takes that seat out of its available inventory. If you then decide not to complete the booking, there is a delay in getting that seat back into inventory. In the meantime the reduced inventory could have resulted in a higher price (if that was the last east available at that particular price). Once the seat is released back into inventory the price should go back to where it was before. Unless someone else bought it in the meantime of course!
There is a shred of truth to this story, but generally speaking, no, airlines don't have the capability to track "hits" on flight searches and changes the prices in response. The resources required to do this would be too expensive, given the return.
What does happen, though, is that when you search for and select a flight, about the time you get to the stage of selecting a seat assignment, the airline takes that seat out of its available inventory. If you then decide not to complete the booking, there is a delay in getting that seat back into inventory. In the meantime the reduced inventory could have resulted in a higher price (if that was the last east available at that particular price). Once the seat is released back into inventory the price should go back to where it was before. Unless someone else bought it in the meantime of course!
May 14th 2009, 3:12 pm
#8
Gotta have more cowbell
Joined: Oct 2004
Location: Hoosier State
Posts: 1,187
Re: Searching flights online
What does happen, though, is that when you search for and select a flight, about the time you get to the stage of selecting a seat assignment, the airline takes that seat out of its available inventory. If you then decide not to complete the booking, there is a delay in getting that seat back into inventory. In the meantime the reduced inventory could have resulted in a higher price (if that was the last east available at that particular price). Once the seat is released back into inventory the price should go back to where it was before. Unless someone else bought it in the meantime of course!
May 14th 2009, 3:16 pm
#9
SUPER MODERATOR
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 88,022
Re: Searching flights online
I always have to put in PP details.
May 14th 2009, 4:48 pm
#10
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 35,082
Re: Searching flights online
I saw your other post about the importance of this trip.. My family keep copies of our passport pages for each other since we travel a lot; you should be able to update the pp number *after* the ticket is booked, if you put your current number in there for booking.
May 15th 2009, 12:18 am
#11
Thinking about it
Joined: Oct 2005
Location: Mid-West
Posts: 9,435
Re: Searching flights online
What the OP is asking about absolutely does not happen, though airlines do alter prices throughout the day based on the times people usually book flights.
May 15th 2009, 5:17 am
#12
Joined: Apr 2005
Location: Milwaukie, Oregon
Posts: 9,966
Re: Searching flights online
You obviously haven't seen British Airways passenger revenue management system. It is very sophisticated and does just what I said, or so they claimed.
Last edited by lansbury; May 15th 2009 at 5:21 am.
