Originally Posted by
ernestnywang
I seriously doubt it.
Of course, though, you disagree with everything I write. Looks a bit like a crusade.
Originally Posted by
globalwanderer84
False - airlines would love to be able to do this like hotels and insurance companies do, but unfortunately the tech behind it doesn't allow it. All is happening is simply there is one seat available in a given bucket and by you selecting that option to commence the booking flow, that seat is now held for a pre-determined amount of time. Some airlines its only 15min, others like QF are up to 2359 the same day (which is why you get the 'want to complete your booking' email with an associated PNR). If you break that booking flow and go and do something else and then return and start it again, that one seat is still held by your previous search and hence the next available bucket is displayed. In the medium term this may change with IATAs NDC, however, uptake by airlines is slow and hence is not yet something that is widespread. Until then, we got the 80s tech.
Cheers
I just wrote about my experience. For this situation, it was availability on LX (and the LH group in general), where some 3-4 availability in that booking class just disappeared overnight, after I was "checking" for a couple of days as a preparation for an upcoming trip on very short go/no-go notice. And a few days later, LH/OS showed the same disappear. Not a gradual reduction in availability, though just drop to zero, overnight. I did end up flying with another airline (with lower pricing). Granted, it was a route, not that many people fly, and my IP address was constantly varying, combined with a persistent cookie-clear, so it would stick out in search overviews as several people checking for that route.
What you describe is the "original" way it worked, but times are changing, airlines are more and more trying to monetize on this.
Regarding the lock on availability, this is also changing from the past (being right from the first selection) to only a lock, when you did make the final choice and are invited to pay. I am not sure, which airline it was, but there was one that even explicitly mentioned this aspect during the booking process with a recent booking I did.
And for those, knowing better: Feel free to ignore what I write. I don't mind.