Expedia Flight Prices Experiment
I have booked a number of tickets through the airlines' websites and also on the online travel websites like Expedia or Travelocity. One thing I have noticed is that the prices can really vary from day to day. Recently, I was trying to decide if there is any kind of pattern for this.
Why? Because I am always frustrated when I have found the tickets I want and then I just wait a day to discuss with my wife and make arrangements at work for the time off. When I go back the next day, the prices have changed substantially for the worse. I have a feeling that the airlines have a complex marketing system for their ticket prices, but this will hopefully give some indication of the movement of these prices.
Update: I have the follow up posting for this now
I am going to do an experiment. I am going to check flights just using Expedia for three scenarios. These are selected at random by me to represent 3 different kind of situations for booking a flight.
- A flight from Calgary to Montreal for the May long weekend. (internal flight for the weekend)
- Round trip flight from Calgary to London leaving July 4th and returning July 23rd. (international flight from Canada during the holiday season)
- One way flight from Los Angelos to Quito leaving July 20th. (international flight - typical backpacker, "I don't know when I'm coming back" ticket purchase).
I will record the prices for the cheapest flights available as of today. Every day, I will check the prices and I will write down the cheapest price for that day. I know this isn't really a true test because flights could fill up or become available, but it will show quite a bit about what prices will be available. I'm assuming we can leave at any time those days.
Calgary to Montreal Round Trip (May 18th, May 21st)
Date of Quote: Saturday, March 17th, 2007
Price: $560
Calgary to London Round Trip (July 4th, July 23rd)
Date of Quote: Saturday, March 17th, 2007
Price: $1457
Los Angelos to Quito (July 20th)
Date of Quote: Saturday, March 17th, 2007
Price: $483
If anyone has some theories or ideas on how this works please let me know. Hopefully someone who has worked at an airline might have some insight.
Update: I have the follow up posting for this now
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Category: Travel
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