Article: Should Airlines & Hotels Offer Last-Minute Discounts?

[AFF Editor]

Canonical URL

https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/last-minute-pricing/

Should Airlines & Hotels Offer Last-Minute Discounts? is an article written by the AFF editorial team:

Should Airlines & Hotels Offer Last-Minute Discounts?

Airline seats and hotel rooms are perishable goods, yet travel companies usually raise prices at the last minute - even if many seats or rooms remain unsold. Why?

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Some airlines are using the opportunity to gain revenue for unsold seats even after departure… for example the on-board sale of extra legroom seats, or seats in business class.

There are also lots of airlines that sell on-departure upgrades at the airport, either at check-in or even as late as boarding.These can sometimes be cheap (for example some chinese carriers) or they can be quite expensive (for example Swiss). You can then fill empty seats without cannibalising revenue for those that want the certainty of an upgrade.

On a recent trip around asia I noticed Cathay employs dynamic pricing, and quite aggressively. My flight from MNL to Shanghai varied by several hundred dollars, up and down, sometimes within a matter of minutes or hours. The fare went from ~$180 (o/w) to the mid $200s, up to $340, then back down again. I snagged it on the third of fourth attempt for $180.

Same with some hotels… like my recent Hilton stay. Being a tour group/conference hotel the price rotated from as low as $112 a night up to $220, and back down again.

 

[aikman]

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