Have any of you had this happen? I called the CP desk to reserve some flights I found on usairways.com in order to use a "sorry we screwed you $ off voucher" from Consumer Affairs. Naturally the price on the dotcom is cheaper than what I can get through the desk. In fact it was $50 more. I ask to see if they can get the same price and as I expected, was told no. I start to hem and think about just doing it online. Then she checks again and the price just dropped so the fare is only $15 more than the dotcom fare. She tells me that sometimes seats get released so the fare drops. I though it fortuitous that it happened when I was talking. For $15 more I reserved it.

I find it aggravating that US cannot match its own fares on its own website (I know it is run by others but it still is US set fares) or hold them to use a voucher.

I think it has to do with # of seats available by fare class.

A few years back when we had the wonderful program Priority Travel works (it was fantastic), i had a flight selected and then called CP desk and they didn't have the same fare available.

I told the agent that i had it on priority travel works and she said cancel out of it and let's see what happens.

I did and then she had the same fare available.

So it may have been a trick but I believed her.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by phillyguy:
A few years back when we had the wonderful program Priority Travel works (it was fantastic)....</font>


THAT was the best booking system I have ever used - it ROCKED!!!

I miss it!

biggs, glad you saved some $$$! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

You do need to be careful about booking if there are only a few seats left in a given fare class (or if the plane is almost full). When you request a fare quote, that seat is temporarily taken out of inventory. If you're not careful, you can end up hurting yourself.

Recently, I was checking prices on a few different websites for an upcoming trip. The plane was almost full and I was doing my best to get the lowest fare. After the first couple of attempts on different sites, the fare suddenly jumped up. After a few more attempts to get the lower price, I gave up and called the Chairman's desk to book the flight. When they looked, they told me that the flight was now full. At that point, I realized I was doing it to myself. I thanked the agent and hung up. I checked again an hour later and was able to book the trip online at the lower fare.

[This message has been edited by BillMorrow (edited Dec 15, 2003).]

Its possible that US lowered the fare today, and it just happened to load into the CRS while you were on the phone. This would be extremely random but is nontheless possible.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by biggs:
I find it aggravating that US cannot match its own fares on its own website (I know it is run by others but it still is US set fares) or hold them to use a voucher.</font>

Phone operators typically cost more than internet booking, so US feels they are justified in not matching web fares. This would be justified if you didn't have to book over the phone to cash in a voucher.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by BillMorrow:
You do need to be careful about booking if there are only a few seats left in a given fare class (or if the plane is almost full). When you request a fare quote, that seat is temporarily taken out of inventory. If you're not careful, you can end up hurting yourself.

[This message has been edited by BillMorrow (edited Dec 15, 2003).]</font>

Does this mean you actually held some fares and used up the inventory or does just looking at a fare deplete it? Just looking w/o reserving or holding would seem not to cause this. Also, now that US.com and Orbitz do not allow holds, it seems like the chance for inventory drops is reduced. Do other travel web sites still allow holds?

I do like the AA site's ability to hold a fare while you run to the airport to cash in a voucher. If BBB wants more use of the dotcom, he has to change the policies. Didn't he say the change to no hold was "requested by the customers"?

Epilogue-I run off to the CTO at lunch and find it is closed. AARRGHH! Run back to the office for a telecon and soon as it is finished head to the CTO before the fare turns into a pumpkin. Forgot that the CTO costs $10. The agent brings up the fare and says it is XX but wait it has gone down another $20. I use the voucher get a super cockroach fare. What is weird in checking Orbitz is that it is higher than the dotcom and the dotcom is higher than the fare I got by a long shot. I have never seen a US fare cheaper than Orbitz but have seen the reverse a lot.

My Christmas present from BBB? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by biggs (edited Dec 16, 2003).]

according to many res agents, fares can change up to 3 times daily. however, when you're doing it through res, the fares usually go up, not down(unfortunately)

As Art from ISP would say

"its the fares stupid"

and airline execs wonder why the public is so confused and frustrated over prices