Bait and switch fare pricing, or unlucky?

[transpactraveller]

Hello, first time flying Jetstar in a very long time, I have just tried to make a Sydney-Melbourne booking which was $181 (before Plus bundle) and allegedly "7 left at this price".

Went through to pay and chose PayPal because it was lower fee than using my credit card directly, but PayPal wanted to verify my identity and update my credit card, which took a few minutes, and in that time the Jetstar booking session expired and I had to start again.

Only problem is when I re-do the search the same flight is now $243 (before Plus bundle) and now "6 left at this price".

Did 7 people really buy this flight in that 15 minutes or is Jetstar playing unfair here?

Is it possible they have some sort of 'hold' on my initial failed purchase attempt that will be released and the price will go back down, or do prices only go up?

 

[TheInsider]

Hello, first time flying Jetstar in a very long time, I have just tried to make a Sydney-Melbourne booking which was $181 (before Plus bundle) and allegedly "7 left at this price".

Went through to pay and chose PayPal because it was lower fee than using my credit card directly, but PayPal wanted to verify my identity and update my credit card, which took a few minutes, and in that time the Jetstar booking session expired and I had to start again.

Only problem is when I re-do the search the same flight is now $243 (before Plus bundle) and now "6 left at this price".

Did 7 people really buy this flight in that 15 minutes or is Jetstar playing unfair here?

Is it possible they have some sort of 'hold' on my initial failed purchase attempt that will be released and the price will go back down, or do prices only go up?

If there is 6 left at that price, then there would've only been 1 person that bought a ticket during that time not 7.
As far as I know JQ may do a similar thing and hold the booking for a set amount of time and then send you an email asking if you are sure you don't want it.

 

[transpactraveller]

If there is 6 left at that price, then there would've only been 1 person that bought a ticket during that time not 7.
As far as I know JQ may do a similar thing and hold the booking for a set amount of time and then send you an email asking if you are sure you don't want it.

So it was $181 - 7 left at this price, then minutes later it's $243 - 6 left at this price. Seems our interpretation of "at this price" is very different.

No email from Jetstar came unfortunately. Looks like I've got no choice but to pay the increased price... The only positive, it's still far less than what Qantas wants for the same day/time.

 

[TheInsider]

So it was $181 - 7 left at this price, then minutes later it's $243 - 6 left at this price. Seems our interpretation of "at this price" is very different.

No email from Jetstar came unfortunately. Looks like I've got no choice but to pay the increased price... The only positive, it's still far less than what Qantas wants for the same day/time.

Sorry, I missed that extra price. Depending on when the flight is also for. Is it a few weeks or months away or like 6 months ahead?
Still highly likely that people did actually book the flights. The system isn't designed in any other way, it's simply taking fares from 'buckets' so to speak. There is no personalised fares or systems in place to change the fare if that fare bucket is still available.

 

[ausfox]

Clear your cookies and try again. It is amazing what those nasty little cookies do to your price quote.

 

[TheInsider]

Clear your cookies and try again. It is amazing what those nasty little cookies do to your price quote.

I can see how people think that this may happen becuase it happens elsewhere, but in the airline space - nope. Cookies have no relevance for airfare prices for nearly all airlines. The inventory system just doesn't work like that.
In the future maybe. But definitely not true at this time.
There is a chance the system automatically changed the fare buckets availability, but it wouldn't have been related to the OPs transaction and only a coincidence.

Some information based on skyscanner:

🍪 Do Browser Cookies Really Increase Flight Prices? 🍪 | Skyscanner

The truth about browser cookies and flight prices on Skyscanner! Clearing your cookies won't help you find cheaper flights - but these tips will.

www.skyscanner.ca

 

[aikman]

Is there a small possibility that you may have accidentally looked at the wrong day/time the first time around? It's happened to me a few times. I get all excited thinking I found a bargain only to realise I had inadvertently searched the wrong day/time.

 

[transpactraveller]

Is there a small possibility that you may have accidentally looked at the wrong day/time the first time around? It's happened to me a few times. I get all excited thinking I found a bargain only to realise I had inadvertently searched the wrong day/time.

Not at all, I'd been looking at that that specific date/time multiple times for several days (comparing a few different airlines and options) before going through to buy.

Sorry, I missed that extra price. Depending on when the flight is also for. Is it a few weeks or months away or like 6 months ahead?
Still highly likely that people did actually book the flights. The system isn't designed in any other way, it's simply taking fares from 'buckets' so to speak. There is no personalised fares or systems in place to change the fare if that fare bucket is still available.

It's about a month in advance, early January. Reading between the lines, would the system increase the price as the date approaches, even if no seats were purchased?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I suspect airline website can track views and interest, and price accordingly. Clearing cookies for airline and hotel sites has resulted in the return or lower fares, for me at least. And in clear cases where there are multi0e seats or rooms left at the lower price.

Indeed hotel websites can price differently for the same room when you get directed there by different third party sites. Tripadvisor sends me to a hotel and the price is $300. Hotelscombined sends me to a site and the same room is $330. Something intervenes to display the price.