TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Airlines....again

Ok ok ok...I know this is an exhausted topic, but I have to vent (and scratch my head). Looked on Priceline and found round trip, nonstop to SXM from NYC and found $455 tix. Great, right? Confirmed the week in July with the owner we rent from at Las Arenas, talked it over with my wife, went back online 5 hours later and not only can I not find the deal I saw earlier (which I screenshot for reference) but now I can only find tix for $650+. How the hell does something like this happen...in a span of 5 hours? Anyone have any insight? Advice? Very frustrating....and I hate the "wait it out" game (don't we all?). Crazy.

Try clearing your browser cache. There is some speculation that if they see you a second time, they bump the prices. Worth a shot anyway.

Thanks, I'll try that.

Airlines, hotels and car rentals can and do change their prices often. It is nothing new and it will continue. You have to check often and when you see a price you can live with, BUY IT!

There are a bunch of different class fares for all the coach seats on the plane. Some priced high, some low. When someone buys one or two the next available tickets go on the block, most likely more expensive.

When I bought my 2 tickets last week for $521 the price jumped to $581 when I searched for the same flights again after my purchase.

The browser cache thing is a myth as far as I know. You can always use http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ which is great at searching all options out there.

You know, I think there is some validity to that theory, it seems the lowest fare never appears again.

At least you don't have to try to get there from TN! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" /> We end up driving to either Charlotte (4 hours from us) or Atlanta (3 hours) and flying non-stop from there. Just purchased our tickets today for June from Delta (ATL), but didn't get a great deal. Seldom do. I've been checking multiple times a day for the past week and prices have been jumping all over the place, sometimes within hours of each other -- though nothing very low came up. Last night they jumped to $712 each round-trip. We decided to bite the bullet and buy when they dropped slightly today. I just know that there will be some wonderful sale before we leave, but didn't want to take a chance on even higher prices. It's a hard game to play. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

I always went with the "clear cache" theory until a couple of weeks ago I was looking at a one way JB fare on my laptop...decent price so I went to my desktop so i could print the receipt and the price was $70 more each...

I then turned my laptop back on and the original price ($70 cheaper) was there...booked it.

No explanation for that one....different compters and not logged in tomthe JB site on either

I recommend buying the ticket on the airline website (or hold the fare if that is the option offered) when you see a price you can live with. If in the US, as of 2012 the airlines are required to refund without penalty if cancelation occurs within 24 hours of purchase and the travel involved is not within 7 days. Some airlines (I believe AA) allow passengers to hold a fare/reservation for 24 hours before ticketing as an alternative to the rule.

I suspect this may not apply to Priceline, which often deals with non-published fares.

My best personal successes with airline ticket purchasing generally occur about two to four weeks from their earliest publication date and I always purchase directly from the airline. As already stated, AA for one and perhaps others as well, offer the 24 hour hold option and we've frequently taken advantage of this while finalizing our other plans.

I can't speak for anyone else but personally I am far more comfortable dealing directly with the service provider, in my case again, the preferred carrier being AA, as opposed to a middle man such as Travelocity or the like, but to each his own and whatever works. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

I agree, Pat. We always buy directly from the airline. Unfortunately, being in TN, our choices are pretty limited -- usually US Airways or Delta. Out of the two of those, we usually prefer Delta, unless US Airways has a significant sale. I wish we had Jet Blue. Sigh.

Even when you get the ticket from a third party, get the record locator that works on the airline's web site. Some times it take work, but if something goes wrong, you'll always be better having that number.

Airline prices fluctuate more often than the stock market IMO! That being said, I do believe there is something to the cache as well. One time at my office, I checked on two different computers and one mobile simultaneously (having not cleared any history and with different time spans since the last check) and, you guessed it, 3 different prices! Feels kinda like playing musical chairs and when the music stops you have to fight for your spot!

And just to be clear, I meant to say "clear your browser cookies". Clearing the cache doesn't do the same thing necessarily.