Choice Air and Airfare

[SeafordCruiser]

Most of the time for us Choice Air has the lowest fare. For our upcoming cruise to Europe which I booked in December. I was carefully watching the air prices. Choice Air was less than Delta. Then I saw Delta raised price. Panicked that would go up again so booked through Choice Air. Then the price did go up. All travel sits said to book Europe about 6 months in advance which I did. WELL down the flight is DOWN. Of course Choice Air will do nothing for me..Why is buying airfare such a gamble?:confused::confused: I can almost see going up as the plane fills but going up and then down makes no sense.Air costing more than 8 day cruise!!.Oh well..Just venting.................

[johhnnyt]

It’s a pretty complicated algorithm they use to set airline prices. The only guideline that I’ve found generally holds true is you usually get the best prices domestically 50-100 days within the flight date, and internationally 50 days before or 6 months in advance. It all based on

• purchasers and last-minute purchasers-An early purchaser generally can wait some time to find the best deal on a flight, but often will simply buy a relatively affordable ticket, since predicting when the lowest price point is can be too difficult. Last-minute purchasers often pay full price for a ticket and do not have the flexibility of waiting for cheaper deals. As a result, prices will tend to spike radically within a few days of a flight, since airlines know some consumers have no other option.

• Destination Popularity

• Filled Capacity

• Flight Closures

• Historical Analysis

[SeafordCruiser]

Thanks...Yep.. I did the 6 months in advance..NYC to Venice..but guess that didn't work...:(

[dodger1964]

Sorry, airfare is always a gamble.

 

I know you were "venting" but to be clear when you say "choice air would do nothing for you", that is true, but it is NO DIFFERENT than if you would have booked directly with Delta...

 

Of course you could have booked a fully refundable ticket and then you would have been able to make changes but that ticket probably would have cost 4 or 5 times more money.

[johhnnyt]

The 90/10 rule always seems to apply to both airfares and cruise line fares

 

90% of the time I think I found a good to great deal but a month or two later I find I should of waited when I see a better one

 

10% of the time I score a great deal

 

Either way, I just say whatever, I gave it my best shot

[elkay68]

Although you made reservation direct,y with ChouceAir, call Delta directly. We had similar situation with United. Booked through Choiceair back in November, the fare went down over 2k per person. choiceair said nothing could be done. Called united and after pay the change fee we have a nice travel voucher.

[waterbug123]

Why is buying airfare such a gamble?:confused::confused: I can almost see going up as the plane fills but going up and then down makes no sense.Air costing more than 8 day cruise!!.Oh well..Just venting.................

 

Supply and demand, combined with complicated algorithms used by the airlines. If seats are selling like crazy, then prices tend to go up because demand has gone up. But if sales slow down, and the airline algorithm says that by such and such date the airline should have sold X number of seats at X dollars in order to maximize yield and they haven't done so, they may drop prices to get things moving again. It's more complicated than that but you get the picture, hopefully.

 

Sorry, airfare is always a gamble.

 

I know you were "venting" but to be clear when you say "choice air would do nothing for you", that is true, but it is NO DIFFERENT than if you would have booked directly with Delta...

 

 

Not necessarily. Even when you book a non-refundable ticket through the airline, you can usually make changes to that ticket. If the drop in fare exceeds the change fee, you will come out ahead if you rebook at the lower fare.

[jelayne]

We booked with Choice Air and were able to change and get a lower fare by telling them we would pay the change fee.

[SeafordCruiser]

We booked with Choice Air and were able to change and get a lower fare by telling them we would pay the change fee.

 

I think as of yesterday the lower fare would equal the change fee but now the price dropped again..$326 less for each of us ($652 now!) so I will call again BUT I don't want to lose my Economy plus seats with Delta, which I paid for extra by myself. Cannot get delta on the phone to help us.. Tried for THREE weeks. They have horrible customer service.