My husband and I invited my sister to join us later this year for the Christmas Markets. I had been looking at flights for a few months and really wanted to book business class. Well, decided that was not in the cards this year as all of the flights were so ridiculously higher than my comfort level. Cannot see spending more getting there and back for double what we used to spend on a 3 week European trip just a few years ago....anyway...I digress.
I did see a decent Premium Economy flight pop up on google flights at one point, flying SFO-Frankfurt and Munich-SFO return on United with return on partner Lufthansa. I immediately called my sister and we started booking it together online, I was booking myself and hubby and she was booking hers on same flights. I clicked on the final page maybe 15 seconds before she did and got my 1500.00 flight and hers did not go through, she was unable to complete the booking! That flight went up $600.00 during the booking!
She did called United, told them she even had the screen shot with the price and they blamed it on Lufthansa. Who knows? but she went ahead a paid the extra 600 (I would not have)...(as it turns out, would have been the smart thing to do to book all 3 of us together but she wanted to miles on her cc too
Anyway with this dynamic pricing getting decent airfare this day is a major crap shoot.
Happy travels
Posted by
New York, NY
4007 posts
It happens. For all you know, that Premium Economy fare will pop up later tonight or in a few days. Or never. It is such a crapshoot.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11192 posts
I clicked on the final page maybe 15 seconds before she did and got my 1500.00 flight and hers did not go through, she was unable to complete the booking! That flight went up $600.00 during the booking!
Could be you got the last 2 seats at that fare class rate. No way to know now, but had you tried to book 3 seats, you may have seen a different price.
Posted by
Connecticut
612 posts
Your experience is not uncommon for me. I’ve been in the process of booking a business class fare, entering all information including credit card, then hit the pay button only to get the dreaded “something went wrong” message or “your request cannot be processed” or a “that fare is no longer available.” A group of 10 of us booking similar flights also experienced this earlier this year too. Sometimes a reservation cancellation may reopen that fare price point. The fares may even go down. Gook luck.
Posted by
Denver, CO, USA
1556 posts
Do remember that you can recheck your flights and if the fare goes down you can reticket it and get a voucher for the difference. I would think the fares will come back down since you are booking so far in advance. Also remember you can cancel for free within 24 hours of booking in case the fare drops.
Posted by
Hudson Valley
2267 posts
Could be you got the last 2 seats at that fare class rate. No way to know now, but had you tried to book 3 seats, you may have seen a different price.
Yup. This. Airlines load inventory in batches per price—usually 7 or 9 tickets. Once one batch is sold out, the pricing for the next is higher. Buying all at once wouldn't have helped. If there are only 2 seats left in the lower fare, they'd have displayed the higher pricing for a three-seat booking—meanwhile, a single person or couple would still have access to the lower fares. It could very well be Lufthansa rather than United, as it can happen across any leg of the itinerary.
Posted by
Atlanta, GA, USA
2745 posts
There are only x numbers of seats at any price point. When you and your husband got yours, he probably took the last two and the cheaper seats were gone so she went to the next price . The fact that she saw it on the screen doesn’t mean anything.
Posted by
OP
173 posts
Thanks for your replies, still learning this airfare game!
Arnold,
"Do remember that you can recheck your flights and if the fare goes down you can reticket it and get a voucher for the difference. I would think the fares will come back down since you are booking so far in advance"
If that happens then does she need to cancel the flight she is on and book the flight with the new price?
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11192 posts
If that happens then does she need to cancel the flight she is on and book the flight with the new price?
My only experience has been with Alaska Airlines. When I found the fare had gone I called and they issued a credit certificate for the difference. Did not 'cancel and re-book'. The original booking was left untouched.
How UAL or Lufthansa might do it, is something to ask them.
If what she has is 'non-refundable', getting a credit for the difference would be my choice. To me it seems easier to spend the smaller amount on a future airfare than a large amount.
Posted by
Hudson Valley
2267 posts
Karen, If the airfare goes down she should call in and ask them to "reprice" it. While one could do it online, it can be messed up, and best left to an agent.
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8158 posts
We ended up booking our Delta flights into London through Air France's reservation system--a Delta partner. We were wanting to leave 5/25/2023 but ended up saving 50%+ by departing 5/22. Sometimes just a couple of days earlier or later can make a big difference too.
Looking at Matrix ITA, prices are all over the place in the busy season--mostly high.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7327 posts
It has sometimes seemed to me that buying immediately, or buying on a different computer, can preserve pricing until purchase. I know my router's IP address does not often change, however.
Posted by
Minneapolis
1216 posts
Just an fyi / plug for the United website... I booked a flight to Europe last summer, then wanted to change it. To my surprise, I found that I could do it online easily; the United website was very user friendly. I just viewed my flight info online, there was a button that said 'Change this flight'. It kept the old flight intact while I searched for and selected my new flight, and it showed what the difference in cost would be, before giving an option to confirm, or just cancel and keep my original flight. I did the change in about 10 minutes online and left thinking 'wow, that was really cool and easy'.