Originally Posted by Globaliser

It's not that weird if you think of the fundamental principle behind it: the system operates to try to screw out of you every last penny that you're prepared to pay (which in some cases is substantially more than the amount that you'd like to pay).

If at short notice, the airline has 3 seats left, and it could sell them to each of three travellers for £100 each, but one of them is actually prepared to pay £500 because they really really need to get there (whereas the other two are on a budget and, like the OP, will pass on the trip), then the airline makes more money by taking £500 from one passenger and flying two empty seats.