Originally Posted by
TravelerMSY
It's helpful to think of airline pricing in terms of your long-term average price of travel. Think of a particularly low fare as a deep discount, rather than of a higher fare as somehow being price-gouging.
Now there is a revolutionary thought that is right on the money. (pun intended)
Airlines use 'dynamic pricing' which basically means a mathematical algorithm designed to try and get them the best average price overall.
There is NO LONGER any set price or value of a seat on a plane. That is what people have trouble getting their head around. Each seat is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it at the time they book it. That's 'dynamic pricing'.
You CANNOT complain that a seat sold at a cheaper price or crow that it sold at a higher price at an earlier or later date. It did NOT sell at a cheaper or higher price. THAT seat sold at the price it sold for. What price ANOTHER seat sold for is irrelvant in 'dyamic pricing'.
What gets in the way of course is that every individual only wants to look at it from their own single viewpoint. Did I pay too much or did I get a bargain? Well, if you actually understood dynamic pricing you would know that you paid exactly what you were willing to pay.
Continuing to check back to see what OTHER seats are selling for after you have booked is laughable.