tl;dr - buy low not high. Determining when to know it’s left is up to the reader.
The US now has the 24-hour cancellation rule for flights booked through the airline at least 7-days in advance. That can help you lock in a flight but either sleep on it or conduct more research with time to cancel.
They definitely mess with prices these days. This is how I deal with it.
Instead of trying to find the cheapest basic economy flight, I now pay a bit more for a flight that can be canceled. JetBlue is a good airline for where I live, and usually for $40-60 more for a round trip, I can get seat selection and the ability to cancel or change flights with no fees.
I book the flight and then I watch the prices. Invariably, the price goes down and I rebook and end up saving more than if I’d booked the el cheapo ticket (which also usually lands you a middle seat and a gate-checked carry-on).
I’m sure this wouldn’t work for everyone but if you can do it, it’s worth checking out.
What is the hack?
Book right away when it’s cheap because the airline will probably give you credit for any price drops if you call.
Yeah I’ve gone through this many times myself and don’t wait out for a cheaper price anymore. Sure, I may be able to save $50 more dollars if it goes down but how good is that going to feel vs how bad I’m going to feel if it goes up $200? Plus then it’s purchased and you don’t have to think about it anymore.
I feel this. I recently did the same. And I’m an experienced traveler who knows better too. I actually watched the price stay the same for 4 straight days, while I continued mulling it over. When I finally decided to buy the ticket, it had increased by $400. I had looked at it around noon and it was $450ish. At 7pm it was $850. The amount of times I said “I knew better!” to myself over and over did nothing to make me feel better. I also waited until the last minute too, so it wasn’t going to drop again. I had to bite the bullet and pay up. Lesson learned. Never again. I’ll buy it when the price is a good price from now on.
Edit: spelling.
I started using rate monitors because of exactly this! I got so tired of trying to figure out the right time to book. Now I book when I make the plan and get refunded on my flights and hotels when prices drop so I don’t have to keep checking rates or accepting when price gouging like this happens.
Yup! When confronted with a good fare, ALWAYS buy first and ask questions later. In the US and Europe, as long as you buy directly from the airline, you have 24 hours to change your mind.
If you buy a ticket and the price goes down, you can call the airline and ask to be credited the difference. They will send it to you as a credit for a future flight. But this will at least make you feel a little better if you bought before the dip. Happy travels.
: I only ever use incognito browsers and different sites up until the moment I buy so they don’t use my cache to inflate the prices.
Why won’t this myth die?
For someone whose parents are travel agents and should be able to confirm this, you should know: Individual sellers are contractually prohibited from selling at any price other than that set by the carrier. The price displayed on your screen is set by the airline, entered into a GDS system, which is fed to the retailers. The retailers can’t change the price displayed. Ask your parents about issuing a ticket with an override. And if they could change pricing and did, they would be banned from selling by IATA. And if they still tried, what the fuck would stop Priceline from stealing your business from Expedia by not displaying the higher price? And if they decided to match their competitor’s price anyway, what’s to stop every single person who has ever flown from joining a class action lawsuit for collusion and price fixing?
There are two carriers on earth who aren’t part of this system, one admits that they do offer dynamic pricing. The other won’t confirm or deny. Neither are in the US, and if you’re the type of person who knows who both of them are, you’re also the type of person who understands the rest of the system.
But this is where you tell me that this one time you did it and the price changed…
Incognito browser is not really incognito.
I heard if price goes down you can call them to rebook for airline credit anyways.
Does using a VPN help with pricing?
All the airline and ticket websites IP scrape your info. The price only goes up once they know where you’re going. They all get sued for this regularly, but the penalty is easily paid by all the extra profit they make gouging everyone who’s ticket shopping.