Is # of seats accurate

[gubby]

I want to book a return flight FLL / Montego Bay for a cruise around Cuba in January. When I tried a dummy booking, the info that there were only 2 seats left for the return flight came up. I wonder how accurate this info is. We have friends that want to do the same thing and I wonder if we should book the flight for a different day and plan to spend a couple of days in Jamaica post cruise. Prices were quite good on Caribbean airlines but I could try another airline as well.

Edited May 26, 2015 by gubby

[CruiserBruce]

Does it say "Only 2 seats at this fare" left, or "Only 2 seats left"? Some airlines use the first to urge you to buy now.

[Globaliser]

When I tried a dummy booking, the info that there were only 2 seats left for the return flight came up. I wonder how accurate this info is.

The information will almost certainly be completely accurate. What is less certain is exactly what it means. I think it's very likely to mean "only two seats left at this price" even if it doesn't say so explicitly.

 

It's easy to test this, anyway. Price the flight again. First, ask for two seats and see what result you get.

 

If it's the same as before, repeat but asking for three seats. If you get the same price, then the "two seats left" statement was untrue on any interpretation.

 

If you get a higher price for all three seats, that confirms that the original statement meant "only two seats left at this price".

 

If you are told that the flight is full, then obviously there are only two seats left at any price.

[Zach1213]

I am 99% sure it means "at this price", even if it doesn't say so. As mentioned before me, that creates a "oh crap better buy it now!" factor - "I can't even waste time thinking or looking at other airlines, I better buy it now or I'll pay more!"

 

Accurate, yes. Honest, maybe not so much.

[wowzz]

Some airlines track your searches through 'cookies', so be careful if you keep checking the same flights on the same days. Always say that your flight dates are variable when looking for fares.

[gubby]

Thanks for the great info. I did a dummy booking asking for 2 seats and got the same message. Although it didn't say " at this price," that seems to be what it meant. the price was excellent for my wallet, so I did go ahead and book. What our friends do is their decision. I quite often read through the threads here and have received quite an education. So once again thanks for all the info you guys so freely give.

[LuCruise]

I wondered the same thing since our flights just opened up a couple days ago and one of the flights says "only 5 left". How could it have been sold so quickly? But now that I look at it, it does day "Only 5 left at" so this would indicate the price. Sneaky!