Why do plane ticket prices change online?

Question

one day they're a lot and the next they're cheap!

Answer 1

Fare sales run constantly. You could have a fare over $500 one day and at midnight that night, it drops to $150 round trip. The invention of the internet killed the industry in some ways with airlines having to be super competitive with the online travel websites. Its just how the industry operates. Mostly it goes the other way, one day they are cheap and as seats sell out, the price goes up. Airlines have a tier system when it comes to fares, so many seats in each fare level for a certain price and as they sell out the price goes up. Then all of a sudden, an airline will announce a fare sale for 24 hrs or less sometimes just to get some seats sold. It varies, its never black and white its always forever changing.

Answer 2

Airlines are constantly adjusting their fares based on supply and demand for individual routes on certain dates and days of the week. It's called "revenue management." They make these changes in various global reservation systems, such as SABRE, Worldspan, Apollo, Galileo, etc. The online travel sites are merely reflecting what's in these global reservation systems.

Why are the airlines constantly adjusting their fares? Well, they want to get the most $$ for every seat on the plane but at the same time, they do not want to the plane to take off with an empty seat. Plane seats are highly perishable inventory, in other words.

If you really want to understand this issue thoroughly, read up in a basic economics text book on the laws of supply and demand and also read "Hard Landing: The Epic Contest for Power and Profits That Plunged the Airlines into Chaos" by Thomas Petzinger, Jr.—it's a fascinating and amusing explanation of why the airline industry is the way it is.

Answer 3

It depends on the season..If its a peak season for travels then most likely the prices increase or else they would remain normal..