I'm very upset how can this happen?

[shelby2001]

I was on Delta's Web Site last night trying to purchase tickets my computer went down and when I got back on after re-starting my computer the ticket price had gone up $80.00 per person how can this happen so fast? I am so upset right now, I was up all night last night over this.

 

[Buzz2001]

That's crazy. Did you try looking again? I know they only sell so many of the seats at that price they list on the web. Ours went up after we purchased ours but not $80.00 and not in 5 minutes.

 

[DebbieB]

It's possible that they are holding your seats in the system, that's why the price went up because they think the flight is more full now. I've noticed this happening if I did not hit "cancel" when playing around with usair's website. Did you call them?

 

[shelby2001]

Yes I called them, and was told that no it wasn't in the system and that the price can change on the tickets until such time as my credit card company sends them verification, and not one seat has been sold or they are on hold for 24 hours and waiting for a decision from the customer, so I guess I'll just keep looking. In five minutes the price went from 178.00 to 259.00 and they said this could happen at any given time.

 

[Wish Upon A Star]

I've seen that happen before too . . .not in a 5 minute period, but for some reason Delta always raises its prices on the weekends . . .maybe because they figure more people have time to order tickets online on the weekends and they figure "hey, let's raise the price" I dunno . . .but try again tommorrow . . .I bet the prices will go back to what you saw by Wednesday . . .

 

[GeorgeG]

If time is not a factor, try using a reputable travel agent. They will know the ins and outs of pricing and a good one will exchange your tickets for the lower price if rates drop before you fly. This has worked for us many times.

 

[zurgswife]

I've seen it happen overnight but not in just a few minutes....Good luck and keep trying is my motto

 

[DebbieB]

Keep checking. We're going in May and the flights we wanted were over $750 on USAir's site. They dropped to $300+, I kept waiting and one night in February they went down to $183. I hurried up and booked it. Every once in awhile I check it, it bounces around from $399 to $253 and back up. It's a crazy game...

 

[CarolA]

I had this happen with a US Air ticket I was buying for my mom. In the 10 minutes it took me to call her for confirmation of her travel plans the price went up about $50. I found a cheaper flight that left earlier and just bought it without calling her this time.

It is possible, that there were only x number of seats left at the lower fare and yours got picked up by someone else.

 

[Tiiiigergirl]

I used to work for a major airline and yes the prices raise within 5 min. In fact I would be in the middle of booking a res for someone and it could go up. Ask to speak with a supervisor, it might help but no guarantees. Good luck!

 

[Lucky4me]

Oh boy, since I've started my travel business this has happened to me a lot! My problem is I have to call back a customer and tell them the price has gone up just when I told them an hour earlier that it was low. That is a killer. If I have time I wait a few days to see if it goes back down. If not, they just have to pay the higher rate. Good luck, I hope the fare comes down for you!

 

[Poly Pal]

I've had this happen too. To book online you need everybody's Skymiles numbers. I know my number but in the time it took to find the numbers for my wife and kids, (about 6 minutes), the lowest fare was gone.

I think Delta updates their reservation system at midnight on Saturday or Sunday (not absolutely sure though). So fare changes may occur then.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

This has happened to me as well. Typically, I fare better with the mega-res sites such as Orbitz or Cheap Ticktes than with the individual airline sites. One thing I like is that your information is already entered so when you hold a seat, you don't lose time entering data. I've held multiple seats in my name and then gone back to enter the information. That sometimes helps.

 

[pinky]

I book quite a bit of travel where I work. 2 weeks ago I was booking Northwest tickets, through their EBiz site (detroit to Philly). I booked 1 ticket, changed travelers and booked another with the same flights (all within LESS than 2 minutes) and the fare had gone up $100. I've seen this happen from morning to afternoon but I was quite shocked to see it happen in this short a period.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

I'm sure Tiiiigergirl or someone else that works for an airline can correct me on this, but this is how I understand airline pricing.

Let's say a plane has 200 seats. A certain number, maybe 12, are in first class. Of the other 188 seats in coach, a certain number -- to make it easy, I'll say 100 -- are priced at the lowest fare. If all of those sell out before a certain day -- maybe 14 days before the flight -- then the next lowest fare tickets become available. If any of the first 100 are still available, the price goes up to the next level at 14 days before the flight, and there may be other levels of fares depending on how much longer before the flight, or if it's refundable or if changes can be made without penalty. This is probably oversimplifying thing, and if I understand it wrong, I apologize, and someone please correct me.

 

[AshlandDad]

I know its frustrating, but it shouldn't be a surprise. Any time the price changes and the airlines update their web site, the change should be instantaneous. If they decide to change their price, they don't do it over a period of time, they do it all at once. I'd be frustrated, too. But I wouldn't be surprised.