Has This Ever Happened to You?
Apr 18, 2003, 5:27 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Tejas, I just can't get away from the place
Programs: Exxon Mobil Supertanker, WN Double Peanut, Accor Golden Cockroach
Posts: 8,350
Has This Ever Happened to You?
I was booking a flight on AA.com, and after I selected the flight for purchase, a window popped up that said "The purchase price of your flight has been changed to $xxx.xx. Do you want to continue or select another flight?"
The price of the flight was lowered, so I purchased it. This has been the first time it has happened to me (and I book online all the time). Has this happened to anybody else?
The price of the flight was lowered, so I purchased it. This has been the first time it has happened to me (and I book online all the time). Has this happened to anybody else?
Apr 18, 2003, 6:43 pm
#4
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Moreland Hills (CLE)
Programs: Over-entitled UA 1.3MM Gold, AA Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott L-T Plat, Hertz PC
Posts: 5,521
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by boilermaker:
The price of the flight was lowered, so I purchased it. This has been the first time it has happened to me (and I book online all the time). Has this happened to anybody else?</font>
The price of the flight was lowered, so I purchased it. This has been the first time it has happened to me (and I book online all the time). Has this happened to anybody else?</font>
Apr 19, 2003, 11:16 am
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: source of weird and eccentric ideas
Posts: 38,730
Yes. The reason is a technical one.
Browsing for fares is different from booking in these systems.
When you browse, rather than check the computerized inventory from the airlines, which is slow and costly, these online systems use a cache that stores the most recently updated inventory figures.
When you book, they actually go out and get the "real" figures. Sometimes the inventory that the cache listed is now unavailable, so the system retrieves the "real" inventory, and figures out the "real" pricing at that time. Occasionally it will be different from the browsed figures.
Browsing for fares is different from booking in these systems.
When you browse, rather than check the computerized inventory from the airlines, which is slow and costly, these online systems use a cache that stores the most recently updated inventory figures.
When you book, they actually go out and get the "real" figures. Sometimes the inventory that the cache listed is now unavailable, so the system retrieves the "real" inventory, and figures out the "real" pricing at that time. Occasionally it will be different from the browsed figures.