Tricks to getting a good deal on the flight?

Be a stalker and check various website multiple times a day. When you see the airfare that' right for you then book it and keep looking if there is a better deal within 24 hours.

 

Research is key.

Though definitely the exception rather than the rule, the first few days of air schedule rollouts can include significant bargains. This is particularly true of Star Alliance members (other than the "big boys"- United and Lufthansa). Often, one of the partner airlines will have a "loss leader" fare that quickly shows up at the top (or bottom) of the list on ITA Matrix (particularly for bizclass).

Consider grabbing that fare and then hoping for a more-than-likely schedule change. Keep an eye on that schedule and price fluctuations across the Star Alliance partners.

When the schedule change comes, if you've got a better itinerary/different Star Alliance carrier in mind, don't immediately accept the change. Instead, call the original ticketing airline and request "assignment" of your ticket to the preferred line/itinerary (at no additional charge).

The caveat is that you do have to be okay with the originally booked line, price and itinerary.

Recently did this with one way SFO-SYD. Originally booked Asiana bizclass at under $3k but schedule change allowed move to United Polaris (an $8k ticket) with no added charge.

Bottom line is "do your homework."

 

 

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Recently did this with one way SFO-SYD. Originally booked Asiana bizclass at under $3k but schedule change allowed move to United Polaris (an $8k ticket) with no added charge.

 

Hope you're getting the "real" Polaris, with all of the bells and whistles and new seating, as opposed to renamed old business class, with some of the bells but no new seats.

 

Haven't kept up with the real Polaris routes, but from my reading, there are relatively few aircraft that have the new onboard hard product.

Hope you're getting the "real" Polaris, with all of the bells and whistles and new seating, as opposed to renamed old business class, with some of the bells but no new seats.

 

 

 

Haven't kept up with the real Polaris routes, but from my reading, there are relatively few aircraft that have the new onboard hard product.

 

 

 

Yes-the actual new Polaris layout on the leg SFO to Seoul. No first or biz on the plane just Polaris on Boeing 787-9.

 

 

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Yes-the actual new Polaris layout on the leg SFO to Seoul. No first or biz on the plane just Polaris on Boeing 787-9.

 

 

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The UA 787-9 doesn't have the Polaris hardware (the seats), only the soft Polaris product. None of the 787s (-8 or -9s) are coming with the new Polaris seats.

 

The front of the plane is Polaris Business.

The UA 787-9 doesn't have the Polaris hardware (the seats), only the soft Polaris product. None of the 787s (-8 or -9s) are coming with the new Polaris seats.

 

The front of the plane is Polaris Business.

 

 

 

My bad. You are correct.

I guess we'll have to live with the 2-2-2 arrangement.

 

 

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Hmmm..... see attached screenshot. I had actually booked this flight last week when it was $324. Since then, the price has jumped to $366 to $387. But one thing other thing that I noticed....

 

An 8 AM departure time isn't a bad departure time, and, considering it's a cross-country flight, arriving at 8 PM isn't bad. Also, departing at 1:30 PM from Florida on the date of the ship's return is pretty damn good, along with a reasonable return time. Yet, looking at the details, there are only 3-4 seats available at that price (if not for that entire flight) for each of those legs. If I had waited, I might be looking at a 5:30-6:00 AM departure time (ug), and a possible 11 AM or 6 PM (or later) from Florida. In checking which ships are in port on September 24th, I count one ship at Fort Lauderdale, six ships at Miami, and two ships at Port Canaveral. That plenty of potential passenger traffic that day.

 

An argument for booking the flight early that day.... which beats figuring out "what do I do until my 8 PM flight"?

I've always been a bit dubious about those "3 seats remain" remarks, and feel they are there to entice the hesitant purchaser. Would any of the experts out there share their knowledge as to the veracity or otherwise of these "remaining seat" type claims.

 

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In checking which ships are in port on September 24th' date=' I count one ship at Fort Lauderdale, six ships at Miami, and two ships at Port Canaveral. That plenty of potential passenger traffic that day.

 

An argument for booking the flight early that day.... which beats figuring out "what do I do until my 8 PM flight"?

 

I would imagine that most of the pax on the six ships in Miami will be flying out of Miami, and that most of the pax on the two ships at Port Canaveral will be flying out of Orlando. That leaves the one ship at Port Everglades, for the majority of pax flying out of Fort Lauderdale. Some pax will stay another day, some will be Florida residents who drive, and many will fly other airlines than the one you're looking at.

 

 

I've always been a bit dubious about those "3 seats remain" remarks, and feel they are there to entice the hesitant purchaser. Would any of the experts out there share their knowledge as to the veracity or otherwise of these "remaining seat" type claims.

 

It means that at the moment in time, the airline is only offering 3 seats in that particular fare bucket. If you attempt to book 4 passengers, you'll likely see the price increase, as the airline website will bump you up to whatever the next fare bucket is for which they've currently got 4+ seats available.

 

 

So what happens when those 3 seats are gone? Well, the airline may choose not to make that fare bucket available immediately again, and you'll see prices go up. But at some point thereafter, they might make that fare bucket available again, and prices will drop. Sometimes they will make that fare bucket available again almost immediately...I've seen "1 ticket left," purchased it, and gone back to buy a second ticket for a traveling companion and the price was immediately available again. Other times, the price for the next ticket has indeed been higher. These changes are all done according to complicated algorithms, and trying to second guess them is an exercise in frustration.

I've always been a bit dubious about those "3 seats remain" remarks, and feel they are there to entice the hesitant purchaser. Would any of the experts out there share their knowledge as to the veracity or otherwise of these "remaining seat" type claims.

For the range of airlines that I've bought tickets from, this has always been exactly accurate - in the sense described by waterbug123 - whenever I've tested it against a verifiably accurate source of availability information (in my case, ExpertFlyer).

 

It is, though, best to think of it as "3 seats remain at this price", which is a more long-winded but more accurate description anyway.

For the range of airlines that I've bought tickets from, this has always been exactly accurate - in the sense described by waterbug123 - whenever I've tested it against a verifiably accurate source of availability information (in my case, ExpertFlyer).

 

It is, though, best to think of it as "3 seats remain at this price", which is a more long-winded but more accurate description anyway.

Yes, but saying "3 seats remain at this price" is slightly different to saying "only 3 seats remain at this price". The former can be interpreted as saying that more than 3 seats are available, whereas the latter is quite unambiguous. Sorry to be pedantic, but I am a suspicious person.

 

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Yes, but saying "3 seats remain at this price" is slightly different to saying "only 3 seats remain at this price". The former can be interpreted as saying that more than 3 seats are available, whereas the latter is quite unambiguous. Sorry to be pedantic, but I am a suspicious person.

If it was not clear when I posted it, whenever I have seen a message along the lines of "3 seats remain" or "only 3 seats remain" and have tested this against an independent source of information, it has accurately conveyed that "only 3 seats remain at this price".

 

This is sometimes part of my own verification of the price I am being charged, as I make my own independent calculation of what the fare should be.

 

Without resorting to specialist tools or sources of information, you can easily test this yourself by pricing the itinerary for 3 people, then for 4 people, and then for 3 people. Provided that you only start the process (and therefore minimise the risk that you're taking inventory out of the system by pricing it), you should be able to verify that there are indeed only 3 seats available at that price.

 

Of course, all of that only refers to the situation at that precise moment in time. Revenue management systems are highly dynamic, and you may find that the number of seats available at that price will change even if nobody buys any. This is never a case of a finite number of cans of baked beans sitting on the shelf, which are there until they're bought and then gone when they're gone. Sometimes the available number goes up and sometimes the number goes down. But what you are being told at the instant that you are looking is the truth.

Thanks for all the replies. Looks like I am being too cynical for my own good ! Guess I'll just follow my own maxim and if I see a fare that I am happy with, I'll book it!

 

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It's not pushing you to buy the ticket right then and there. It's telling you the low inventory status of that particular fare bucket. In a way, it's self-protection for the airline. Now, when you see a price with a limited number of seats, then if you come back two days later to buy and the price is higher, you will know -- it was low inventory. Not "that damn airline, jacking up prices again on me. Better remember to clear my cookies next time." :D

Dear Globaliser:

 

I need some guidance. We are booked in Premium Economy on a Lufthansa flight from MIA to FRA. Lufthansa’s web site states that I can bid on an upgrade to Business Class up to 72 hours prior to departure.

 

Q: How much should I bid and when would be the optimal time to bid? Should I wait until check in on line to see if an upgrade is still available?

 

Happy Easter/Passover.

Many thanks.

 

Larry

Dear Globaliser:

 

I need some guidance. We are booked in Premium Economy on a Lufthansa flight from MIA to FRA. Lufthansa’s web site states that I can bid on an upgrade to Business Class up to 72 hours prior to departure.

 

Q: How much should I bid and when would be the optimal time to bid? Should I wait until check in on line to see if an upgrade is still available?

 

Not Globaliser, but given that he is LHR based and is much more of a BA flyer than LH, I wouldn't expect him to have personal experience between MIA and FRA. Also, the bidding process works in tandem with the LH yield management systems, so there is likely to not be a direct "always wins" set of numbers.

 

I'd ask myself, "at what max price is this worth it to me?" Then I'd say "at what price would I be kicking myself if I found out I lost because I was X dollars short?". This can help to determine the value of the upgrade to you. Much better approach than trying to outguess the system.

 

There is no "optimal time", since there is a closing time. They take all offers, then process them. It's not like finding the "magic" time when your bids will be accepted - even if you do it long before the flight, the decisions aren't made until all bids are in.

 

Finally, since LH contracts with an outside company to process the upgrade bids, and because they have a closing time when they then award the seats to the winners, there's no reason to expect that you would find the same kind of offer at check-in. All the seats that LH is making available for auction have been doled out.

 

Now, it is "possible" that LH might offer an upgrade at a fixed price, but I would not bet anything more than a few matchsticks on that occurring. Do you buy lottery tickets?

I'm sorry that I can't add anything to what FlyerTalker has posted. I know next to nothing about flying on LH, and I certainly know nothing about this arcane corner of its operations.

 

The only thing I can think of to say is that for something as specialist as this, you might well want to have a look at the relevant board on FlyerTalk (I think it's here) and see whether there's any useful information. On a very quick look, it seemed like this thread might have something - but you will want to do your own searching and reading there.

Flyer Talker and Globaliser:

 

Many thanks for your most helpful comments as I decide how much to bid.

We will be flying on LH’s A380 aircraft and there are 78 seats in business class. Right now only about 15% have been sold. Hopefully we will have a reasonable chance that our bid will be accepted.

Larry

Flyer Talker and Globaliser:

 

Many thanks for your most helpful comments as I decide how much to bid.

We will be flying on LH’s A380 aircraft and there are 78 seats in business class. Right now only about 15% have been sold. Hopefully we will have a reasonable chance that our bid will be accepted.

Larry

 

You can't tell how many have been sold unless you have special access. You can only see how many have been assigned. There could be a lot more sold, but they haven't picked, or been assigned a seat.

We will be flying on LH’s A380 aircraft and there are 78 seats in business class. Right now only about 15% have been sold. Hopefully we will have a reasonable chance that our bid will be accepted.

You can't tell how many have been sold unless you have special access. You can only see how many have been assigned. There could be a lot more sold, but they haven't picked, or been assigned a seat.

And it's even more complicated than that. The bulk of business travel is booked in the last three weeks before travel, so the number of reservations that have been taken now is a poor guide to what the flight will look like at the peak. And if the flight is heavily booked, the number of reservations taken for the cabin might reach well over 100% of physical seats on the aircraft. I don't know when LH clears the upgrade bids, but if it's in the last 24 hours before the flight, what you're hoping is that the reservation profile looks like it will dip significantly below 100% by the time of departure.

 

Remember that those 78 business class seats are not tins of baked beans sitting on a shelf waiting to be picked up and bought. It simply doesn't work like that.

Understood. Thanks again.

 

Larry

Just for fun, I checked again the price of my flight through Kayak even though I have already booked it. $425... an increase of $101 since I booked it on the 22nd.

We gave up the stress and hassle and booked through Carnival so at least we have plenty of time to pay for it. Incidentally, my friend and I were on speaker phone doing this and within ten minutes(the time between the agent doing mine and then going to hers) the rate went up $50 so you never know..............

From Uproxx:

 

The Absolute Best Time To Buy A Plane Ticket, According To A Study Of 917 Million Flights

There are 747 cargo holds stuffed full of advice on when you when you should pull the trigger and buy a plane ticket. For awhile, everyone seemed to think you had to buy your ticket on Tuesdays if you ever wanted to save money. Today, that theory has been thoroughly been debunked. Other pieces of once accepted knowledge have fallen by the wayside too, after online airfare aggregator Cheapair.com released the results of a massive flights study last week.

 

After surveying nearly one billion transactions, they came to some clear conclusions about when to buy your ticket and when to actually travel. The 917,000,000 bookings from over 8,000 markets across the world paint a clear picture, and should motivate you to hit the road.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

And once again, let us say:

 

All of those supposed "scientific" studies of flight pricing are guilty of one fatal flaw. Averaging.

 

They present the averaged data of hundreds of millions of flights. Which is great if you are looking to buy hundreds of millions of tickets. But you are just buying one or two or even ten different flights. An average can paint a very general overview that has limited applicability to YOUR particular flights, city-pair and dates of travel.

 

But, if you want to rely on that....go ahead.

 

Just remember the story of the group of amateur statisticians who drowned while walking across a river that had an average depth of 12 inches.