ITA Software: Bug?
Jul 23, 2009 | 11:16 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 43
ITA Software: Bug?
http://matrix.itasoftware.com
From: YYC (or any airport within 275 miles)
To: HKG (or any airport within 300 miles)
September 1 (or the next day) to September 8 (or the next day)
If I run this query, the cheapest flight is YLW to HKG for $628.
Now, if I change the above to...
From: YYC (or any airport within 275 miles)
To: QVR;HKG (or any airport within 300 miles)
September 1 (or the next day) to September 8 (or the next day)
So basically all I've done is add the airport QVR.
Now the cheapest flight showing up is $692, from YYC to GRU.
It seems to completely miss the YLW to HKG flight for $628.
Just wondering if anyone knew why that would be?
From: YYC (or any airport within 275 miles)
To: HKG (or any airport within 300 miles)
September 1 (or the next day) to September 8 (or the next day)
If I run this query, the cheapest flight is YLW to HKG for $628.
Now, if I change the above to...
From: YYC (or any airport within 275 miles)
To: QVR;HKG (or any airport within 300 miles)
September 1 (or the next day) to September 8 (or the next day)
So basically all I've done is add the airport QVR.
Now the cheapest flight showing up is $692, from YYC to GRU.
It seems to completely miss the YLW to HKG flight for $628.
Just wondering if anyone knew why that would be?
Jul 23, 2009 | 11:32 am
#2
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: NYC
Posts: 8,686
I think there is a limit to how many different flights ITA will consider in a given query. The narrower the parameters of a given search, the more likely it is to find the cheapest flight with those particular parameters.
Jul 23, 2009 | 12:59 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 43
I think there is a limit to how many different flights ITA will consider in a given query. The narrower the parameters of a given search, the more likely it is to find the cheapest flight with those particular parameters.
From: YYC
To: QVR;HKG
outbound: Aug 29 (on this day only)
return: Sep 11 (on this day only)
Result: finds the $639 fare
[the previous date I was using no longer has this cheap fare]
now, if I merely change ...
To: QVR;HKG or any airport within 75 miles
...it can't find the $639 HKG flight.
Surely there can't be *that* many combinations of airports within 75 miles with only these two cities to search on a single date ?
Now, if I lower it to 50 miles, it can find the deal.
I used to think ITASoftware was giving me a powerful tool to use, but if the extent of it's combination search is two cities with a 50 mile range...damn.
Jul 23, 2009 | 3:49 pm
#4
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: California
Programs: AA EXP, lowly UA 1K; Hyatt Diamond, SPG Gold, Hilton Gold; National EC, Hertz PC
Posts: 2,227
I am not seeing the $639 fare at all, though perhaps it is no longer valid, though it seems that when you have such a large radius that it only returns the first 500 flights. I am not sure how it gets to those 500, though from you data it does not seem to do it by price.
Jul 23, 2009 | 5:19 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 43
I am not seeing the $639 fare at all, though perhaps it is no longer valid, though it seems that when you have such a large radius that it only returns the first 500 flights. I am not sure how it gets to those 500, though from you data it does not seem to do it by price.
Same result, as soon as you change the radius to 75 miles or greater, it no longer shows the YYC -> HKG price.
I was always under the assumption that it would compile a list of every airport within the specified radius, and cherry pick the lowest fare for every combination of those airports.
Maybe someone from ITASoftware can give a better idea of what method it uses. I think one of the developers is on this forum.
Jul 23, 2009 | 5:30 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 43
What's strange to me is that if you do a search like...
From: YYC
To: QVR;HKG (or any airport within 200 miles)
Sep 4 - 13
It still finds a YYC -> HKG fare, but it's just not finding the *lowest* one. It finds a $940 fare as the cheapest.
It seems to go against the theory that it's just searching for the first 500 results between YYC and QVR first, and then HKG next.
From: YYC
To: QVR;HKG (or any airport within 200 miles)
Sep 4 - 13
It still finds a YYC -> HKG fare, but it's just not finding the *lowest* one. It finds a $940 fare as the cheapest.
It seems to go against the theory that it's just searching for the first 500 results between YYC and QVR first, and then HKG next.