Fare discrepancies on NWA site vs. ITA / Travelocity etc.
May 16, 2007, 12:23 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Canada
Programs: AS, DL, UA, Hyatt, SPG
Posts: 2,574
Fare discrepancies on NWA site vs. ITA / Travelocity etc.
I've always used ITA to search out cheapest weekend/dates for month long etc. for trips with US or UA.
However, I'm actively looking to book NW/CO for a number of upcoming trips. NW fares YYC-MSP run from the 'high' to the 'outrageous' - for being only a 2hour30 flight, prices range from $600+ for the 'deep discount' fare buckets up to $2,000+ for B fares. I'd be happy to book a flexible ticket, but to pay over $2k for NW coach (for such a short flight) is just unacceptable - thats $1/mile!
Far better are fares from YYC-FLL/STL/BOS and then buy another separate ticket to backtrack to MSP. It's a long way round, but not only is cheaper, but turns it into a mini mileage run at the same time.
Problem is actually finding the fares that ITA or Travelocity pull up. ITA shows availability for a discounted fare on any number of dates, and the fare basis is shown in the breakdown. Price it up on NWA and one of two things happen:
a) the fare class is the same, but the fare is much higher - sometimes double.
b) the fare class that ITA is pulling up as available, pulls up as a higher fare class for 'lowest available' on NWA site.
So either ITA is systemically wrong with pulling NW fares/availability, or else NW site is not quoting the true lowest fare.
Anyone else with any experience with ITA/NW?
Example:
YYC-FLL-YYC, Aug 5th o/b and Aug 11th i/b.
ITA fare: KA21CNRT, available on both 2 leg and 3 leg connex.
NW site fare: K o/b, V i/b - exact same flights, more than double the cost.
However, I'm actively looking to book NW/CO for a number of upcoming trips. NW fares YYC-MSP run from the 'high' to the 'outrageous' - for being only a 2hour30 flight, prices range from $600+ for the 'deep discount' fare buckets up to $2,000+ for B fares. I'd be happy to book a flexible ticket, but to pay over $2k for NW coach (for such a short flight) is just unacceptable - thats $1/mile!
Far better are fares from YYC-FLL/STL/BOS and then buy another separate ticket to backtrack to MSP. It's a long way round, but not only is cheaper, but turns it into a mini mileage run at the same time.
Problem is actually finding the fares that ITA or Travelocity pull up. ITA shows availability for a discounted fare on any number of dates, and the fare basis is shown in the breakdown. Price it up on NWA and one of two things happen:
a) the fare class is the same, but the fare is much higher - sometimes double.
b) the fare class that ITA is pulling up as available, pulls up as a higher fare class for 'lowest available' on NWA site.
So either ITA is systemically wrong with pulling NW fares/availability, or else NW site is not quoting the true lowest fare.
Anyone else with any experience with ITA/NW?
Example:
YYC-FLL-YYC, Aug 5th o/b and Aug 11th i/b.
ITA fare: KA21CNRT, available on both 2 leg and 3 leg connex.
NW site fare: K o/b, V i/b - exact same flights, more than double the cost.
Last edited by SamuelS; May 16, 2007 at 12:30 am
May 16, 2007, 1:15 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2006
Programs: DL SkyClub Lifer
Posts: 10,000
Travelocity... I don't even know why you'd use it as an example, given how many times I've done searches on it only to find that the fares it returned weren't available. Okay, okay, 1% or less of the time it comes up with really good fares, but the rest of the time? No.
Search ITA, NWA, Kayak, Expedia, CheapTickets and/or Orbitz and Travelocity. The lowest fare you find on a non-ITA site above will generally be the lowest one that is really available.
May 16, 2007, 5:44 am
#3
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 8,884
You should probably call an agent at NWA and tell them what you're doing. They can probably tell you either a) why it's not available on nwa.com, or b) they actually can find it and will sell it to you right there, plus the little phone booking fee.
Sure you'd rather avoid the phone booking fee, but being a savvy traveler means you could be saving significant cash by calling in, so the phone booking fee is really just loose change (assuming of course the agent can help you find the lower rate).
Sure you'd rather avoid the phone booking fee, but being a savvy traveler means you could be saving significant cash by calling in, so the phone booking fee is really just loose change (assuming of course the agent can help you find the lower rate).
May 16, 2007, 7:15 am
#4
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 214
I tried this...
You should probably call an agent at NWA and tell them what you're doing. They can probably tell you either a) why it's not available on nwa.com, or b) they actually can find it and will sell it to you right there, plus the little phone booking fee.
Sure you'd rather avoid the phone booking fee, but being a savvy traveler means you could be saving significant cash by calling in, so the phone booking fee is really just loose change (assuming of course the agent can help you find the lower rate).
Sure you'd rather avoid the phone booking fee, but being a savvy traveler means you could be saving significant cash by calling in, so the phone booking fee is really just loose change (assuming of course the agent can help you find the lower rate).
He went to the NW website yesterday and found the flight for $560. I tried right after him on my own computer and I couldnt find the same flights. So I called the PE line and had them reserve the flights I wanted and at the $560 rate.
May 16, 2007, 7:57 am
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2001
Programs: DL 1 million, AA 1 mil, HH lapsed Diamond, Marriott Plat
Posts: 28,190
I was looking for tickets for Memorial Day weekend and this happened to me. I found a fare of $571 last Friday. Decided on Saturday to book it and the flight went up to $909. I called NW (I'm PE) and asked if they could find me a cheaper fare (I found the $571 on NW site and on either expedia or travelocity). The PE reservations said, sorry, no cheaper fares available. I gave up. My husband said try again after the weekend is over and voila....
He went to the NW website yesterday and found the flight for $560. I tried right after him on my own computer and I couldnt find the same flights. So I called the PE line and had them reserve the flights I wanted and at the $560 rate.
He went to the NW website yesterday and found the flight for $560. I tried right after him on my own computer and I couldnt find the same flights. So I called the PE line and had them reserve the flights I wanted and at the $560 rate.
Congrats on getting a satisfactory fare.
May 16, 2007, 8:03 am
#6
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS
Posts: 15,027
Perhaps a cookie problem? Some airlines quote a higher fare if they "see" that you inquired to many times without buying.
May 16, 2007, 10:11 am
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Canada
Programs: AS, DL, UA, Hyatt, SPG
Posts: 2,574
Thanks for the replies. I will def look at calling an agent, state that I'm looking to book the respective fare, and ask if XYZ flights have the K class inventory - hopefully that will work.
NWA.com is really wierd though. I priced the same itinerary as above, entered "lowest available fare" and got lowest fare outbound in Q, and inbound in V. Then I went back and searched by "K and higher", and got T outbound, K inbound (a lot cheaper) on the SAME FLIGHTS. This was an immediate (1 minute or less) research. I then entered went back, tried again, and got completely different results - with L and K combos.
They say that the definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results every time. With NWA however, madness pays off it seems!!!
NWA.com is really wierd though. I priced the same itinerary as above, entered "lowest available fare" and got lowest fare outbound in Q, and inbound in V. Then I went back and searched by "K and higher", and got T outbound, K inbound (a lot cheaper) on the SAME FLIGHTS. This was an immediate (1 minute or less) research. I then entered went back, tried again, and got completely different results - with L and K combos.
They say that the definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results every time. With NWA however, madness pays off it seems!!!
May 16, 2007, 10:18 am
#8
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: MSP
Programs: NW Plat, Hertz 5*
Posts: 292
One problem with ITA is it doesn't seem to check married segment availability. So if there is K availability on AAA-BBB and BBB-CCC, but not on the whole AAA-BBB-CCC trip, ITA might pop up a K fare when it won't be bookable on any site. This is extremely annoying to me because it makes it hard to search for low fares when a bunch of invalid ones pop up and you have to check each one to see if it is valid.