Originally Posted by
ceieoc
Prices can and will change (up or down) as seat inventory changes. Just because you are booking a flight in three to four minutes using the internet, does not preclude other passengers throughout the world, from doing the same and reducing the seat inventory available on your selected flight.
As your credit card was not yet billed for your Delta flight, and the price increased, you were proactively notified by Delta of the price change before submitting your credit card for billing. Just like the skock market, until your buy offer for your ticket is finalized, the price from your quotation to final purchase changed. You might be more upset if the price dropped $100.00 two days after purchase and it would have been cheaper to wait to purchase. Then you could get really frustrated in finding out doing a reissue to a refund the $100.00 price difference could potentially cost you a service fee of $150.00 or more.
No, this IS a total ripoff (and I've never, ever seen this happen on CO). Once you select your flights, that inventory space is being held for you - no one else can 'take your seat inventory' away. Your transaction needs to be completed in a reasonable amount of time or it will expire and the inventory goes back, but once you've selected your flights and have gotten to the point of entering passenger and payment information, the price should never change!
If I re-start my search, then the price can be different based on either fare changes or inventory changes.
If this occurs in the middle of a transaction, it's no different than a retail store marking an item $10, then ringing up at $20 and saying 'oops, the price just changed, sorry'. How about a gas station changing the price per gallon while you're in the middle of filling the tank?
OP - hopefully you can get screenshots, but nonetheless, you should file a formal complaint against Delta with the Federal Trade Commission.