Airfare to FLL keeps changing

[PaulMedik]

I've been using Orbitz, Travelocity, Kayak, Sidestep, ITA and direct with Delta & USAir to book our flights to FLL for our April Cruise. I began checking in June '05 and lately I've been checking several times per day. Prices are going up and down, but every time I try to book a reasonable price, the price shoots up dramatically.

 

I'd like to get the seats (5) at $350.00/pax. I just tried to book Orbitz at $496/pax, just to get it over with, and after the last click, which was supposed to bill my credit card, the price raised by over $1200 total and I was again prompted to confirm. Naturally I did not confirm.

 

My travel dates are April 12 evening CRW to FLL, MIA, or PBI and April 23 afternoon to CRW from FLL, MIA, or PBI.

 

I can normally find $238/pax to MIA so $350/pax is a reasonable amount given that April 23 is a high demand date. $496 is a bit unreasonable but I was prepared to pay it.

 

My question is; WTH is up with the prices changing so much after choosing to book? If the price isn't available, why am I not being so advised initially? I've checked the seats and the planes aren't filling up so that's not it.

[cherylandtk]

Its probably the fact that you are trying to book 5 seats all at one time at those prices. Often only two seats are available per plane at the advertised discount price, and the other three seats will be priced higher. You might have to book separate flights or airports to get the lowest advertised prices (if that is even possible with your group). Don't wait too long, as you said, April is a high demand time and you don't want to find yourself without any options.

[PaulMedik]

Its probably the fact that you are trying to book 5 seats all at one time at those prices. Often only two seats are available per plane at the advertised discount price, and the other three seats will be priced higher. You might have to book separate flights or airports to get the lowest advertised prices (if that is even possible with your group). Don't wait too long, as you said, April is a high demand time and you don't want to find yourself without any options.

 

 

cherylandtk:

 

 

I suspected that may be the case so I've tried booking two at a time and the same thing happens. We could split up and go two on one and three on another, but the same pricing pops up at the end. I haven't tried one at a time lately. The planes have the same number of empty seats that they had back in June.

 

It sure would be nice if some site would pop up and take my money and I could be done with it! :)

[cherylandtk]

Paul, boy, that is frustrating. I could not find anything at your times and dates for less than $500. Maybe Greatam will see your post and be able to help.....she (or he?) is very helpful and has access to loads of flight data/prices. You could try a new thread addressed to her/him.

[PaulMedik]

It's getting even more frustrating. I tried to book again on Travelocity and my card came up invalid. I then tried again on Orbitz and the card was invalid, then again with invalid. I knew the card was valid and had plenty of credit so I called Discover and they said that USAir had charged $2449 multiple times to my account. USAir said that Orbitz authorized the charges. Discover said the company that charged me would have to call and have them removed. I called Orbitz and I'm on hold with them now while they call Discover to get the charges removed. USAir also said the price did NOT increase so....

 

UPDATE, Orbitz just advised me that the charges have now been removed including some other Orbitz charges that I wasn't aware of having been placed. She also advised me that Orbitz online only updates individual accounts every one hour so additional bookings were not possible on line. Not sure what that means. :(

[PaulMedik]

Paul, boy, that is frustrating. I could not find anything at your times and dates for less than $500. Maybe Greatam will see your post and be able to help.....she (or he?) is very helpful and has access to loads of flight data/prices. You could try a new thread addressed to her/him.

 

 

 

cherylandtk:

 

Thank you for checking. I'm gonna need another cruise to recover from booking airfare! :rolleyes: As it now stands, airfare is going to be over half what the eight day cruise cost.:confused: That's nutz!

[PaulMedik]

SUCCESS!

 

It finally went through at the times and prices I wanted! An Orbitz sales rep put the flight through a half dozen times and had the same problems I had earlier with price changes etc. Delta then updated their prices while I was on the phone with her and then cancelled flights she booked right after she booked them. She called USAir and was able to put everything through and get it confirmed.....Finally.

 

She said a supervisor told her that volume of seats per hour is what triggers the price changes even if the bookings don't go through so she didn't need to put each one of us through separately if she spoke with the airline while booking.

 

Now I can concentrate on Miami hotels, since we're flying into Miami and FLL car rentals since we'll have until 4:45 flying out of PBI. Priceline hotels, here I come!

 

Anyone know what car rentals are near the port in FLL with drop off in PBI?

[parody]

My question is; WTH is up with the prices changing so much after choosing to book?

 

Paul, check out the article entitled,

That fare you see may not be the fare you get -- here's why

 

at http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-internet7aug07,1,4639262.column?ctrack=1&cset=true

[PaulMedik]

'Orbitz and Go' NOT. It's more like 'Orbits and bend over!' :mad:

 

I checked my confirmation email and the Orbitz website shows they charged me $3,773.50 instead of the agreed upon amount. I called Orbitz and was advised that I could cancel the flight but they refused to cancel the $125 booking fee. I explained to them that I did not agree to pay $3,773.50 thus the booking fee was null. They refused stating that it was non refundable. I advised them that there could be no booking fee because there was no booking at the agreed upon amount. They said the documentation showed otherwise. I asked that they speak with the sales rep because I knew she would remember. After a considerable wait they returned and said she had left. I advised them that the call was stated to be recorded so they could listen to the recording. Again a long hold and they returned and stated the call was not recorded. The customer service rep was very rude and indicated that I agreed to the booking fee and would have to pay it. I advised him it was fraudulent and would not pay it. He said he'd fill out an 'escalation form' and a supervisor would call me but it would be M-F 9A-4P and that would likely be outside of the 72 hour courtesy cancellation time frame and I could then not cancel the air fare. I advised him I definately wanted to cancel the air fare and the fraudulent booking fee. He refused to remove the booking fee.

 

I then called Discover and the fraud unit rep went through the days activity and found where there are two $125 booking fees applied within one minute of each other at the time I was on the phone with the agent. There is also a hold for the agreed upon amount and the $3,773.50 as well. Obviously she booked at the agreed upon amount, and then booked again at the higher amount without noticing the price increase.

 

I'm now left with no reservations and two $125 booking fees from Orbitz. I have never encountered such blatant disregard for ethics and reason in my life. Orbitz will never get my business again and you can bet that everyone I speak to will avoid Orbitz or at least think twice about them.

[PaulMedik]

Paul, check out the article entitled,

That fare you see may not be the fare you get -- here's why

 

at http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-internet7aug07,1,4639262.column?ctrack=1&cset=true

 

 

 

parody:

 

 

Thank you for that link.

 

Personally I don't buy the excuse given by Orbitz in that report since USAir told me the price did NOT change. I think Orbitz is practicing bait and switch sales and they'll be called to task on this one.

[parody]

Paul,

 

I think your experience illustrates the problems inherent with a third party and substantiates the advice that after using an airfare search and/or metasearch engine, one should attempt to buy the selected ticket(s) at the airline's own website. As a potential safety value, open a new web browser window to do the side transaction in case you are not successful and need to revert back to an online TA.

[PaulMedik]

Paul,

 

I think your experience illustrates the problems inherent with a third party and substantiates the advice that after using an airfare search and/or metasearch engine, one should attempt to buy the selected ticket(s) at the airline's own website. As a potential safety value, open a new web browser window to do the side transaction in case you are not successful and need to revert back to an online TA.

 

 

 

Parody:

 

Without a doubt you are correct; I just booked the exact flights with USAir direct and requested the fare codes recommended by ITA software. In our case the codes were only good for up to four pax so the USAir agent divided the booking to maximize the fare code benefits. She then booked everything exactly the way we wanted with specific seat requests etc. The final cost was over $200 less than Orbitz best price and ~$1500.00 less than what Orbitz tried to swindle me for.

 

I will still need to pursue Orbitz for their fruadulent billing practice and now I'll have the exact same date booking direct with USAir to make them honor their pricing guarantee as well. I'm sure they won't actually honor it, but they will be hearing about it. ;)

[greatam]

There are NO inexpensive fares left for 5:00PM US Air flight or the 6:30 Delta flight on April 12. And there are ABSOLUTELY NO inexpensive seats left on the ANY flight from 12-6PM on the 23rd. Almost all are full fare coach or better with a scattering of one seat here and one seat there in the lower fares. But those single seats are on different flight segments and don't easily mix and match. Or call the airline, pay the booking fee and see if they can't book you into different fare classes for different segments.

 

Here's the breakdown on seat availability going down.

 

US 4937 0 CRW

04/12/06 05:00PM DCA

04/12/06 06:18PM SF3 Y7 B7 M7 H7 Q7 K0 L0 V7 W0 S0 T0 N0

US 547 0 DCA

04/12/06 07:35PM FLL

04/12/06 10:02PM 734 F7 P7 A6 Y7 B7 M0 H0 Q0 K0 L0 V0 W0 S0 T0 N0

 

US B fare (only class where there are enough seats) is $449.00 ONE WAY

 

DL (EV) 4352 0 CRW

04/12/06 06:30PM ATL

04/12/06 07:56PM CRJ Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 K9 L9 U9 T9

DL 212 0 ATL

04/12/06 09:15PM FLL

04/12/06 10:59PM 763 F9 A9 Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 K9 L0 U0 T0

 

K fare is $531 and Q fare is $622.

[PaulMedik]

There are NO inexpensive fares left for 5:00PM US Air flight or the 6:30 Delta flight on April 12. And there are ABSOLUTELY NO inexpensive seats left on the ANY flight from 12-6PM on the 23rd. Almost all are full fare coach or better with a scattering of one seat here and one seat there in the lower fares. But those single seats are on different flight segments and don't easily mix and match. Or call the airline, pay the booking fee and see if they can't book you into different fare classes for different segments.

 

Here's the breakdown on seat availability going down.

 

US 4937 0 CRW

04/12/06 05:00PM DCA

04/12/06 06:18PM SF3 Y7 B7 M7 H7 Q7 K0 L0 V7 W0 S0 T0 N0

US 547 0 DCA

04/12/06 07:35PM FLL

04/12/06 10:02PM 734 F7 P7 A6 Y7 B7 M0 H0 Q0 K0 L0 V0 W0 S0 T0 N0

 

US B fare (only class where there are enough seats) is $449.00 ONE WAY

 

DL (EV) 4352 0 CRW

04/12/06 06:30PM ATL

04/12/06 07:56PM CRJ Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 K9 L9 U9 T9

DL 212 0 ATL

04/12/06 09:15PM FLL

04/12/06 10:59PM 763 F9 A9 Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 K9 L0 U0 T0

 

K fare is $531 and Q fare is $622.

 

 

 

greatam:

 

I don't think they ever had inexpensive fares for the dates I'm traveling. I've been looking since June '05 and they have all been, at one time or another, over $800.00/pax. The agent used fare code Q for the CRW flight and fare code M for the PBI return flight. $489/pax is considerably more than the $238/pax that I paid in June but I'll live with it based on the price fluctionations.

 

I'll definately be posting to you before making any more flight arrangements. I appreciate the details and the time and effort you put forth. :)

[labs4ever]

Paul,

Sorry to hear you've gone through so much, how frustrating. I just had a poor experience with Orbitz myself. It isn't worth going into as things have been rectified but I won't use them again.

 

On the other hand, I do assume some blame as this is the first time I've booked on line. I should have read the fine print a little better, live and learn.

 

Hope you have a nice trip after all this!

Lisa

[PaulMedik]

.........

 

Hope you have a nice trip after all this!

Lisa

 

 

Lisa:

 

 

Thank you. I, most definately, will. :)

 

Carnival deducted ~$1700 from my cruise price about a month ago which is why we decided to fly instead of drive. A decent deal on airfare would have been completely covered by $1700 but $800 more is reasonable given that we would have paid about that much to drive.

 

If you get a chance, please share your experiences with Orbitz. Maybe we can save someone else from their pig in a poke sales tactics. ;)

[greatam]

No problem-I do this every day for a living. Always having to look up load factors on different databases, so I know if we can get some of our freight on a plane.

 

I was going to suggest you call the airline and let them book you in different classes. But ya beat me to it. At least you have tickets.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[parody]

I just booked the exact flights with USAir direct

 

Good to hear that you were able to do this. In addition to not dealing with a third party, it is useful to note that Orbitz does not include jetBlue and, of course, Southwest Airlines in its searches. In addition, as mentioned in "Orbitz Takes a Wrong Turn" (http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,1540,1160706,00.asp) Other low-fare carriers—including Frontier Airlines and AirTran Airways—also keep their lowest prices off Orbitz

[CruisinMatt]

I've never had a problem with Orbitz, interesting!

[PaulMedik]

An Orbitz supervisor called me today and after recapping the details she apologized and said it isn't a good business practice for Orbitz to have left the booking charge on my bill. She stated that all Orbitz charges would be removed. I asked that she make a note of that decision in case there's a mixup and a charge remains.

[New cruiser from Atlanta]

I am also having trouble trying to find something reasonable from Miami back to Philadelphia on April 16th. I got a good deal on the cruise and booked a reasonably priced one-way fare from PHL to MIA for April 8th but now I cant find anything on the 16th that's isnt too early (8 a.m.) or too late (9 p.m.).

 

FLL or MIA would be fine with me but I really dont want to pay over $300 per person for a one-way ticket. I'm looking for two tickets. Any tips would be appreciated.

[parody]

Any tips would be appreciated.

 

I see that you can get a one-way ticket from FLL to PHL on Southwest Airlines for $235.60 on April 16. It is a fully refundable fare since all the real low-cost fares are sold out.

[Feistyred]

How soon should I book airfare for a January 2007 cruise?

I'd like to leave early on the 5th from either Dulles or Reagan in the DC area.

Thanks for any suggestions:)

[greatam]

I am also having trouble trying to find something reasonable from Miami back to Philadelphia on April 16th. I got a good deal on the cruise and booked a reasonably priced one-way fare from PHL to MIA for April 8th but now I cant find anything on the 16th that's isnt too early (8 a.m.) or too late (9 p.m.).

 

FLL or MIA would be fine with me but I really dont want to pay over $300 per person for a one-way ticket. I'm looking for two tickets. Any tips would be appreciated.

 

Parody has the best suggestion. Southwest (even though I absolutely HATE Southwest). Everything else is $235.00+ for a one stopper to $270.00+ for the nonstops on United and US AIR for the flights that leave from noon to 4PM.

 

Curious minds want to know-why didn't you book a RT?

[parody]

Feistyred[/left]]How soon should I book airfare for a January 2007 cruise?

I'd like to leave early on the 5th from either Dulles or Reagan in the DC area.

Thanks for any suggestions:)

 

Personally, I would want to give serious attention to flying jetBlue nonstop from Dulles to FLL. However, their booking horizon is about 6 months, or currently September 6, 2006. Thus, for this airline you would need to wait another 4 months or so. The other strategy would be to look/monitor now and book whenever you see a fare that you like.