I found a flight on economytravel.com today for $850. I called the 800# and the agent said his computer wasn't coming up with that price. He said the best he could do was $990 [Sacramento Ca. to Amsterdam returning from Prague]. I reserved his flight for 7 days but didn't purchase it.
I asked the agent why he couldn't find the same price. He said one of the flights may have been a "phantom flight." It didn't really exist. He said if I tried to book that flight I would have gotten an error message. I went back and selected it and did not get an error message. I am going to wait a week to see how the prices look next Monday. I am wondering if this some kind of bait and switch they use?
Posted by
Chicago, IL, USA
473 posts
I have no clue as to the cause, but I've seen this quite a few times on Orbitz also. It's gotten to the point where I don't believe a price on Orbitz until I see it on the airline's own web site.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
Many times a web price is only available if you book it on the web. It's very possible that the clerk couldn't find that price because it's not available by phone. Several airlines have "web specials" that must be booked online.
Posted by
Nottingham, UK
658 posts
What Nancy said is true - many fares are 'web only' but I also know that the airline I work for will advertise 'Summer Saver Fares' at very low prices. We normally load between 20 to 40 of these fares on each route and on most days ( not Friday or Sunday ). If there are 40 fares available at the discount price on the dates you want and you are caller number 41 - that's life. It's not dishonest but I'd be less than truthful if I said it wasn't some sort of bait.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
Al, I've encountered that 'limited seats at this price' thing on several different airlines. The lesson is, you just have to be ready to jump when you see a good fare.
Posted by
kiel, s.h., germany
12 posts
www.kayak.com has always been good to me.
Posted by
San Diego, CA, USA
24 posts
try sidestep.com they've been good as well.
Posted by
Atlanta, GA, USA
2790 posts
A few thoughts
Unless the "economytravel" is dramatically cheaper then booking direct with the airline(or with your personal TA aka as a "LIVE" person) don't do it. In most cases, that means to the airline the TA (Economytravel) owns the reservation until you make the first flight. So if something happens you get to call Economytravel. Most of these "on line" TAs have VERY limited customer service. So if a storm shuts down a major airport you may be on hold for HOURS (or days) trying to get your flights fixed!
I use www.farecompare.com I find it's easier for me to use when I am flexible then a lot of the others.