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. Many hab

Cheers