Annoyed with Aer Lingus
Aug 17, 2018, 3:53 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 725
Annoyed with Aer Lingus
A quick cautionary tale.....
I wanted to book 4 seats on IOM-DUB so I went online and it quoted "only 3 seats left" at £36.99 when I obtained a quote for one passenger. When I obtained a quote for 4 seats it revised the price to 4 x £60.99.
As you might expect I booked three seats at £36.99 and then immediately went back to book the final fourth seat which was £60.99.
Then 12 hours later (overnight) I got a Skyscanner email alert informing me the price was £36.99. So I went to Aer Lingus website and the price for the same flight is £36.99. It now states "4 seats left" at £36.99.
Thanks for reading and hope it helps someone learn something !
I wanted to book 4 seats on IOM-DUB so I went online and it quoted "only 3 seats left" at £36.99 when I obtained a quote for one passenger. When I obtained a quote for 4 seats it revised the price to 4 x £60.99.
As you might expect I booked three seats at £36.99 and then immediately went back to book the final fourth seat which was £60.99.
Then 12 hours later (overnight) I got a Skyscanner email alert informing me the price was £36.99. So I went to Aer Lingus website and the price for the same flight is £36.99. It now states "4 seats left" at £36.99.
Thanks for reading and hope it helps someone learn something !
Aug 17, 2018, 5:31 am
#2
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: EIDW
Programs: Aer Lingus Concierge, Radisson Rewards Platinum, BW Diamond, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,967
Completely normal and consistent with airline practice globally. Seats are grouped into buckets, and the system gives you the lowest bucket with enough seats for your request, so you got kicked to a higher bucket when looking for 4 seats
I've seen prices drop by hundred+ euro for no apparent reason
I've seen prices drop by hundred+ euro for no apparent reason
Aug 20, 2018, 5:25 pm
#4
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,835
Completely normal and consistent with airline practice globally. Seats are grouped into buckets, and the system gives you the lowest bucket with enough seats for your request, so you got kicked to a higher bucket when looking for 4 seats
I've seen prices drop by hundred+ euro for no apparent reason
I've seen prices drop by hundred+ euro for no apparent reason
We all know airline pricing is a dark art, quant model driven, with dynamic prices that fluctuate for reasons not transparent to the customer.
But when the airline uses the term “x seats remaining at this price” and then within 12 hours x actually turns out to be 2x, then they are arguably deceiving the customer.
Aug 20, 2018, 10:56 pm
#5
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Your statement is only true if prices only ever go up, rather than down. The fact is that prices, and availability in different fare buckets is highly dynamic. The statement made by the airline is surely true at the time. It could go up, or down, there is no obligation for the airline to keep its earlier pricing in place.
Aug 21, 2018, 12:16 am
#6
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,835
Your statement is only true if prices only ever go up, rather than down. The fact is that prices, and availability in different fare buckets is highly dynamic. The statement made by the airline is surely true at the time. It could go up, or down, there is no obligation for the airline to keep its earlier pricing in place.
Aug 21, 2018, 12:21 am
#7
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How is it any different from a shop telling you that there are currently only 7 litres of milk (expiry tomorrow) available for £1 and then the following day telling you that the milk expiring today is now available for 50p and that the only other available milk expires next week and costs £2?
Aug 21, 2018, 2:31 am
#8
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,835
How is it any different from a shop telling you that there are currently only 7 litres of milk (expiry tomorrow) available for £1 and then the following day telling you that the milk expiring today is now available for 50p and that the only other available milk expires next week and costs £2?
You made the (accurate) point that flight prices don’t increase in a linear fashion. However I’d argue that’s exactly the message that “only x seats left at this prices” is trying to convey to the customer.
Consumer agencies have taken action in the past where airlines didn’t have sufficient seats available to match their advertised fares and I don’t think this is hugely different. The defence that the bucket was closed/empty or fares had been repriced wasn’t acceptable in that case.
Aug 21, 2018, 3:02 am
#9
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I think the point I was trying to make is that milk spoils, and the shop will want to get rid of the older milk faster than the new one. If there is a run on milk, he might jack up the price again, if no one wants it he might lower the price just to get rid of it. Airlines try to fill flights, and have developed reasonably robust predictive technology that allows them to sell at inventory clearing pricing. Sometimes you need to make adjustments because of exogenous events. Sometimes it works out in the consumer's favour, sometimes it doesn't.
Aug 21, 2018, 6:30 am
#11
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Analogies don't work.
OP's error is in saying that he "went back immediately." He did not. Rather, he went back "soon". Sitting at a laptop, it is easy enough to forget that it is a big world out there and that there are tens of thousands of customers out there in that big world.
What is only 30-40 seconds to OP is an eternity. All it took is for one of those tens of thousands of people on OP's flight to have cancelled or changed and that frees up a seat which multi-million Euro software suggests will only sell at the lower price, so that is the price at which it is offered.
It is a perfectly competetive system in which there are some who misjudge just when to purchase. Somewhere there is some person quite happy with their cheaper ticket.
OP's error is in saying that he "went back immediately." He did not. Rather, he went back "soon". Sitting at a laptop, it is easy enough to forget that it is a big world out there and that there are tens of thousands of customers out there in that big world.
What is only 30-40 seconds to OP is an eternity. All it took is for one of those tens of thousands of people on OP's flight to have cancelled or changed and that frees up a seat which multi-million Euro software suggests will only sell at the lower price, so that is the price at which it is offered.
It is a perfectly competetive system in which there are some who misjudge just when to purchase. Somewhere there is some person quite happy with their cheaper ticket.
Aug 25, 2018, 7:20 am
#12
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Programs: BA Gold, Mucci
Posts: 2,065
There are also people specifically employed to manage the revenue on each route. It's also entirely possible that it was a manual change.
All airlines do it, the flight prices will change all the time in response to demand. It usually goes up and up as it gets closer to departure, but not always, as in this case.
All airlines do it, the flight prices will change all the time in response to demand. It usually goes up and up as it gets closer to departure, but not always, as in this case.
Aug 29, 2018, 4:23 am
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 725
This is an ATR42 service within the UK* and is highly unlikely to have sold another seat on the same flight (next February) between the times of 9pm and 9am....(the 12 hours period overnight that I referred to).
Even now I can buy 6 adult seats at £36.99 for the same flight. It no longer states "4 seats available". Clearly its much more than 6 at that price.
So to charge me £60.99 in the manner described is appalling.
Hopefully that adds context as to why i am still so annoyed.
* CTA and Ireland (should and do know better!)
Even now I can buy 6 adult seats at £36.99 for the same flight. It no longer states "4 seats available". Clearly its much more than 6 at that price.
So to charge me £60.99 in the manner described is appalling.
Hopefully that adds context as to why i am still so annoyed.
* CTA and Ireland (should and do know better!)
Last edited by lfc84; Aug 30, 2018 at 9:31 am Reason: UK correction !
Aug 29, 2018, 4:56 am
#14
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 686
IOM-DUB!!??
playing with fire there
Stobart air manage these flights so maybe they are more likely to tweek the fares manually and the OP unfortunately ended up on the wrong side this time. Can certainly understand why the OP is irked by what happened.
Sometimes I think as frequent fliers being aware and familiar of how airlines operate with fares and routes to boost profitability mean we accept possibly too readily the inherent unfairness in the system on customers without stepping back at times and saying hold on this is ridiculous behavior.
playing with fire there
Stobart air manage these flights so maybe they are more likely to tweek the fares manually and the OP unfortunately ended up on the wrong side this time. Can certainly understand why the OP is irked by what happened.
Sometimes I think as frequent fliers being aware and familiar of how airlines operate with fares and routes to boost profitability mean we accept possibly too readily the inherent unfairness in the system on customers without stepping back at times and saying hold on this is ridiculous behavior.