Budget Travel - ita software giving flights that are sold out

Apologies if this is in the wrong place, but given that most of my travel is done on a budget, I thought it might fit here.

Anyway, I found a flight on the ITA thing from LHR to ORD, departing july 13, returning july 23; a bmi codeshare on a united flight, namely BD 4473 outbound and BD 4472 inbound, flying in T class both directions, costed at £294.90.

However, when I went to bmi's website to book this, it didn't appear, and the cheapest available option was ~£500.

Is it a common occurrence for the ITA thing to be wrong, or am I making some sort of mistake here? Is there somewhere that I can check up to the minute info on availability of certain classes?

Thanks in advance.

Is it a common occurrence for the ITA thing to be wrong.

ITA always does what it promises...maybe you don't understand exactly what those promises are.

ITA always does what it promises...maybe you don't understand exactly what those promises are.

No need to talk to me like I'm an idiot!

I presumed that the function of the software was to display flights and costs for certain time periods. However, after repeating the same search again since my above post, which returned the same result, I called up BMI to try and book. However, I was told that the T class for the outbound had sold out. Thus, I can only draw the conclusion that the ITA software was incorrect; namely that it was displaying flights as available that were actually sold.

It's possible that I don't "understand the promises" of the software; perhaps you could enlighten me if that's the case.

It's possible that I don't "understand the promises" of the software; perhaps you could enlighten me if that's the case.

Try +1.617.714.2100...someone there will be happy to answer your questions.

Try +1.617.714.2100...someone there will be happy to answer your questions.

Not sure that it was really worth wasting your time writing that response. Perhaps we should close the door on this debacle: if one doesn't have anything helpful to say, it is usually better to keep one's mouth shut.


Anyway, to all you helpful members out there (of which I know there are many; the member in this thread is clearly an anomaly) I'd be much appreciated if you could help out. I'll restate my main point, in case it got diluted by the above exchange:

Is it usual for the ITA software to display flights that have actually been sold. Furthermore, is there anywhere that gives up to the minute details about fare availability in different classes?

Thanks in advance!

Cristo, I'm a newbie too, so it's the blind leading the blind here.

Anyway, I noticed this and discussed it (off-handedly) in another post. I found fares on a travel search engine site that were LOWER and more accurate than the IATA listings. The IATA fares were not complete because they were missing these particular low low fares listed on the Other site.

What I was told is that there is a lag on the IATA end. Don't know how much of a lag, though.

Not sure that it was really worth wasting your time writing that response. Perhaps we should close the door on this debacle: if one doesn't have anything helpful to say, it is usually better to keep one's mouth shut.




Call the number...they're the authority on your question.

Anecdotes from anonymous posters won't help you. (unless you like to rant.)

Whenever I get crappy info from a website I quit using that website.

MisterNice