Fares posted before they're loaded?
May 21, 2007, 6:49 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: SFO
Programs: AA (PLT) / CO (because I fly non-stop SFO-CDG on Air France) / UA (sometimes)
Posts: 126
Fares posted before they're loaded?
Sorry if this is not the right place to ask this question, but I think that it might be...
In the Mileage Run Deals forum I've often seen posts from people that mention fares that will be "loaded soon".
Does that mean that sites like Farecompare actually post certain fares before they're even loaded?
Thanks in advance for any clarification.
Cheers!
In the Mileage Run Deals forum I've often seen posts from people that mention fares that will be "loaded soon".
Does that mean that sites like Farecompare actually post certain fares before they're even loaded?
Thanks in advance for any clarification.
Cheers!
May 21, 2007, 7:03 pm
#2
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: PEK
Programs: A3*G, UA Gold EY Silver
Posts: 8,956
Yes. What happens is that each airline "publishes" their fares in several booking systems. It takes a few hours to propagate into all booking systems. AFAIK, this is mostly due to the fact that the systems are antiquated. Once farecompare gets these fares, it parses them, compares against their historical data and sends you an email saying that "expect these fares".
Each of these fares has a certain number of seats on certain dates. Airlines can pull the plug on these fares at any time by simply reducing this availiability. This is why you sometimes can't get the fare you see on sites like Orbitz, or even on Farecompare, which doesn't track availiability.
Each of these fares has a certain number of seats on certain dates. Airlines can pull the plug on these fares at any time by simply reducing this availiability. This is why you sometimes can't get the fare you see on sites like Orbitz, or even on Farecompare, which doesn't track availiability.