Originally Posted by
winslowny
What happened to "early bird catches the worm" and the benefits of planning ahead? I thought tickets were supposed to be cheaper the earlier you buy them.
This is not the case. You've now learned that the hard way. Revenue management has become much more of an art than the period just after deregulation with a bunch of seats and a bunch of fares and the cheap buckets filling up early. Airlines will now release cheaper seats if necessary to drive sales if the plane isn't filling up.
Originally Posted by
winslowny
I called continental, but they were not sympathetic or flexible at all, even though I am Gold Elite. Anyone have similar experiences and any suggestions to try to get that difference back?
You can pay the change fee and re-ticket at the lower fare and get a credit for the difference. Odds are the change fee is $150 so you'll pay $150 more to get a $300 voucher. You can decide if that is worthwhile to you or not.