United pricing changes hourly
Mar 25, 2019, 6:59 am
#31
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Denver, CO, USA
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Posts: 26,693
Mar 25, 2019, 7:54 am
#32
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: NYC
Programs: UA GS (1MM), DL Gold, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Globalist, Avis CC
Posts: 526
Sure, but the bigger problem here is that while a human analyst who was dedicated to watching this flight in specific at all points in time might have been able to make a slightly better call and get your $100, UA has literally tens if not hundreds of thousands of flights on the schedule at any given time and it's not cost effective to monitor each one closely. Almost all of these inventory decisions are made by a computer, and the software is not even all that sophisticated (they rolled out a new management system recently and were proud of it on their quarterly call). Getting "perfect" inventory on a given route takes an investment, so there is a cost/benefit tradeoff.
Mar 25, 2019, 10:14 am
#33
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 9
My two bits. The mass media still portray it as "Airlines changing pricing on an hourly basis" (and often on Tuesday) and of course "jacking pricing up at the last minute to get the business traveller"...
When of course the actual fares rarely change and it is just the number of seats available in each bucket changing by being sold or closed out -- mixed with booking engines that look for the lowest fare with available seats.
When of course the actual fares rarely change and it is just the number of seats available in each bucket changing by being sold or closed out -- mixed with booking engines that look for the lowest fare with available seats.