Originally Posted by
global happy traveller
Fares are based on complex algorithms and processes including (but no limited to):
- Day of sale (i.e. cheaper to buy on certain days than others)
- Your IP address (i.e. have you been shopping there multiple times). There are suggestion about shopping in private mode instead
- bucket inventory (as discussed extensively)
- # of viewers at given moment (anytime you view or proceed with a fare it locks up for X mins because they need to guarantee you that price/seat inventory)
- # of recent market sales & confidence (i.e. if there is high number of sales in a short span it will be priced agressively)
- past trends (i.e the day actual college exam schedules are released the fares spike up drastically as people firm up their travel plans)
- manual review & manipulation
- exchange rate & geopolitical changes (some of it is manual review)
- price adjustments in anticipation of fare discounts
What i am saying is that its not a clear cut....hey $100 fares are over now and therefore its $125 next available fare
IP - no, that's not how airline pricing works
# viewers - everything is live and no lock up until the transaction isssubmitted (with Visa payment etc) and first credit card to Authenticate will get the seats (you can test this), only someone with a GDS can hold inventory
Everything else I agree with. But it's not priced as live as we think. There may be some adjustments made to inventory, but not to pricing.