Cost of tickets keeps changing daily - pls help

[Omarko_man]

I want to book a flight to Turkey for 2 in business class. I did a search on the weekend to find optimal flights at times that suit and with airlines we prefer using Skyscanner.

I have written down the flights (dates, times flight numbers ) and then spent bit of time researching business class with those particular carriers as I havent used them in past.

I went back on skycanner on Monday too book it and the price of the same ticket has gone up by $3k !!! so extra $6k ! Why would that be ? And so dramatic?

This morning I did new search and found other airlines and cost that I was happy with (still about $500 more than what I found on weekend but so be it). I didnt want to rush it as I had few personal things on in the morning but I was ready to book when I come back.

I just searched for same flight and it has gone up AGAIN by approx $1k per person.

So question I have, are there specific times during day I should search ? why do they change so much and so fast?

If you have any tips, please let me know ! Thanks in advance.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Airfares can change dramatically as ‘fare buckets’ fill up. Seats within the same cabin are priced differently, according to what the airline thinks it can get for them. Some seats will be the lowest price, others higher.

It might be that in the space of you searching and coming back, the remaining seats at the lowest price were snapped up by someone else. Leaving only the more expensive ones.

It’s not uncommon.

But it’s also not uncommon for airlines to reassess the mix of seats, and they may decide to make more available at the lower price at some other time.

With your second airline, it could be someone in exactly the same shoes as you… found airline A’s fares had increased, so searched and found airline B, snapping up the last cheap seats there.

You can either wait a bit, or buy another fare now. Or buy a refundable fare on another airline at a prices that’s ’ok’, and hope your first preference comes back at a lower price (cancelling the first ticket).

If travel is a long time off I’d give it a few more weeks to see how the market fluctuates.

Also, if you need two seats, try searching for one. See if that has the lower price still. In that case it’s almost certainly that the cheaper seats are being bought up.

 

[Katie]

Generally, it's supply and demand. Or the airline had a sale on, and that's now over.

 

[p--and--t]

If you are using skyscanner or specific airline websites - clear your cookies and history and search again. If you keep going back there (not in incognito mode) they know you want it and often the prices will go up. Same with hotel booking sites.

 

[jb747]

Yes and some play with you too. Make sure you get rid of any cookies they may have left, or even use a different computer (and IP) on any second look.

 

[RooFlyer]

May not help you @Omarko_man but a Travel Agent can see the number of seats available in any fare 'bucket' (as in Mel_Travellers first para). So when I'm enquiring about an international ticket at an acceptable price, they can tell me 'no worries, plenty of availability at that price for now' and I can leave it for a while. The TA keeps an eye on it and lets me know when the availability shortens, so only then I book & pay. If she sees only 1 or 2 left, she'll put her foot on one, THEN let me know and I decide.

 

[Omarko_man]

thanks all for the replies, I tried using VPN and another computer but results are still same so I assume the cheap tickets sold.

Not relevant to this thread but might as well ask, what Lounges can I access where with these flights?

Syd Flight out Turkish Airlines flying out - TK8172 Operated by Malaysia Airlines

Kuala Lumpur flight out Turkish airlines TK61

Flight back from Istanbul TK56 (I assume they will have a nice lounge there)

Flight from Jakarta with Qantas QF42 (I think its ticketed as QF flight not under Turkish Airlines)

 

[Ade]

thanks all for the replies, I tried using VPN and another computer but results are still same so I assume the cheap tickets sold.

What were the flight details you were looking for? I'm happy to search and see what I can see ...

 

[Omarko_man]

these flights

https://i.postimg.cc/VNfBTXr6/flights.jpg

were $6200, now $9200 per person

 

[Ade]

these flights

https://i.postimg.cc/VNfBTXr6/flights.jpg

were $6200, now $9200 per person

I don't think I can see that image?

 

[CaptJCool]

Maybe get off skyscanner and try the independent

https://matrix.itasoftware.com/search

There’s always Google flights too

And

Cheap Flights - Search and Compare Flights | momondo

Find the cheapest flights with momondo. We find and compare fares from more than 1,000 airlines and travel sites, giving you the best rates

www.momondo.com.au

Momondo works by aggregating the prices for tickets on online ticketing agencies instead of selling tickets on its own website.
There’s a useful explanation here and I do like their visual big data analytics

How momondo Works - momondo

How momondo Works

www.momondo.com.au

https://www.valuepenguin.com/travel/best-flight-search-engines

 

[Guvner]

Agree with the above, try Google flights.

example: Google Travel

 

[Omarko_man]

Google flights resulted with same flights and prices.

Ended up booking a flight I was happy with so all good now. thanks for everyone's input.

 

[Guvner]

Google flights resulted with same flights and prices.

Ended up booking a flight I was happy with so all good now. thanks for everyone's input.

No problem, read $9200 further up the thread. Thought the Google results were cheaper by $1200 or so per pax.