can't get low rate for more than 1 passenger

:confused: I have been looking to buy flights for 2 people from Toronto to Miami for winter 2015. I can find a good rate for one passenger on American Airlines, but if i search for 2 people the rate is suddenly $200 more per person. If I put a 24 hour hold on one person ticket, and then try to get a second, one person ticket, it tells me that fare is no longer available.

Is this typical for American airlines??. I have tried searching on different computers , but still get the same reply. The lower rate will disappear, and then show up again 3 days later. should I book one ticket, and hope to get the same ticket again in a few days? Or should I wait until later to book for next winter?

Simple explanation; there's only one ticket left in that lower fare class. When you try and buy two, it bumps both up into the next higher fare class. As far as I know, all airlines do this.

None of the rates you've received so far make sense, nor would they. Even though some prices might show up, I'm not sure if they are accurate because once other people respond to your question, I think they will all tell you that you cannot book air this far in advance. Most airlines do not post accurate pricing until about 330-days out, and on occasion, 355 days out. Depending on your November, 2015 date, I think you have to wait until sometime this December.

We are flying to Barcelona in early May of next year and coming back on May 16th, and we could not book air until this past June 21st.

Hope this helps... And I'm other people with more knowledge than I, can also help you out.

Dave

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None of the rates you've received so far make sense, nor would they. Even though some prices might show up, I'm not sure if they are accurate because once other people respond to your question, I think they will all tell you that you cannot book air this far in advance. Most airlines do not post accurate pricing until about 330-days out, and on occasion, 355 days out. Depending on your November, 2015 date, I think you have to wait until sometime this December.

 

We are flying to Barcelona in early May of next year and coming back on May 16th, and we could not book air until this past June 21st.

 

Hope this helps... And I'm other people with more knowledge than I, can also help you out.

 

Dave

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

What doesn't make sense is this post. One can most certainly make flight reservations in winter of 2015......Jan-Mar 2015 is winter time.

I don't know when OP is traveling. To me, "Winter 2015" means from Jan 2015 onward. AA will let you book 331 days in advance, so you can book through June 22, 2015 which covers all of "winter 2015".

OP did not say "November 2015" in their question. But, if they are asking about that date, yes, you are right. Can't be booked yet.

Simple explanation; there's only one ticket left in that lower fare class. When you try and buy two, it bumps both up into the next higher fare class. As far as I know, all airlines do this.

This is the answer.

You might want to wait a little bit before you buy though. You didn't say exactly what dates you are looking at. Prices might come down a little as you get closer. I find (for me anyway) that about 4 months out is the happy zone on prices. Now, if you are trying to go during school vacation time it might not come down much. (Just as an aside, look on USAir website as well. I booked a trip from Houston to Charlotte in Oct for a race and I got a direct flight in 1st class for only $100 more than AA wanted in coach on their metal. AA wanted almost double for the same US flight for some reason. I just booked on the US site and entered my freq flier number)

Thank you trucker dave for replying. I am flying in Mid February , peak season for Canadians heading south. The hotel rates are also very high in Miami due to the boat show, which I was unaware of when I booked the cruise. I was unsure about waiting to book closer to the date, since most of the flight times are too early, or too late in the day for the return flight so not alot of options.

I will check on the US airways website and hope for better results.

Thank you trucker dave for replying.

:confused:

I am flying in Mid February , peak season for Canadians heading south..

Mid to late February is mid-winter break for many US schools. Airfares are high then.

It sounds like there is only one ticket at that rate. As you have seen, that is high tourist season in south Florida, and flights and hotels are pricey.

one suggestion is to book one ticket at the lower price then log back in and book a second ticket. Yes, it may cost a little bit more. You can also check other airlines and see if they have flights you prefer. I've had to book one ticket then a second one before and pay two different rates to get on the same flights. No big deal.

As for waiting until four months out, you just never know what the prices will do. Most people suggest that if you find a price you can live with, you book and don't look back when it comes to flights. Right now, when I look at February flights to our scheduled cruise, they are quite high - more than $250 per person what we have paid in previous years. We are debating driving and waiting for a couple of additional airlines to release flight schedules before driving.

Miami during the boat show is a nightmare. Things will only get more and more booked. Is there any way you can move your cruise?

I've experienced exactly what you did. Too see what else we could do we put a hold on one seat at the lower price then went to see what the second ticket would cost. Once we knew the total cost of air on American we could decide if it was a better value than another airline.

A lot of people from Toronto mention flying out of Buffalo to get a better deal. I've flown out of Syracuse and the price has been low enough that it more than offset the time and effort to get to Syracuse.

It is also worth looking at ITA Matrix to see what else is out there. One of it's best features is it allows you to search multiple airports so if flying to Florida you can have it look for FLL and MIA and it will show you the lowest/best fares using these airports.

:confused: I have been looking to buy flights for 2 people from Toronto to Miami for winter 2015. I can find a good rate for one passenger on American Airlines, but if i search for 2 people the rate is suddenly $200 more per person. If I put a 24 hour hold on one person ticket, and then try to get a second, one person ticket, it tells me that fare is no longer available.

Is this typical for American airlines??. I have tried searching on different computers , but still get the same reply. The lower rate will disappear, and then show up again 3 days later. should I book one ticket, and hope to get the same ticket again in a few days? Or should I wait until later to book for next winter?

We also have found prices for two higher than a single times two. So we book online 2 singles side by side on two iPads, getting and booking single seats side by side.

Miami during the boat show is a nightmare. Things will only get more and more booked. Is there any way you can move your cruise?

Miami us a horrendous nightmare(we no longer fly into Miami or a USA airport).

Add to that a show, and it will get to he stage where people will say "forget it" :eek:

Miami during the boat show is a nightmare. Things will only get more and more booked. Is there any way you can move your cruise?

We got a very good deal on our cruise, and the price has increased almost 33% for the cabin category we booked, so do not want to change the cruise. I did read somewhere that part of the Miami boat show was free admission, so we thought we might try to make the best of it and go to the boat show. Sounds like that might not be such a good idea if it is a zoo.

We also have found prices for two higher than a single times two. So we book online 2 singles side by side on two iPads, getting and booking single seats side by side.

I tried that, several times, and it would not give me the single fare a second time , on a different computer. And I tried this one week apart, and three days apart, and still no luck.

I will look at the average price of a cheaper fare, and the higher fare, and see how that averages out against other airlines.

Flying from Buffalo, would have to be alot cheaper to overcome the hassle of driving there in February and paying for 2 weeks of parking. In the summer, it would look more attractive.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply. It is appreciated.

:confused:

 

 

 

Mid to late February is mid-winter break for many US schools. Airfares are high then.

Actually that is the week of President's Day, usually the third Monday of the month. So, if the OP flying out of Canada and it has to be that week, they'd be better off with a non-US airline like AC or West Jet.

I tried that, several times, and it would not give me the single fare a second time , on a different computer. And I tried this one week apart, and three days apart, and still no luck.

 

I will look at the average price of a cheaper fare, and the higher fare, and see how that averages out against other airlines.

Essentially you've confirmed the scarcity of the lowest fare (one, and only 1 seat). Be sure to also include ancillary fees that apply to your trip...you want the all-in cost, not the "average fare". Those could be quite different depending on fees.

While you're doing the research, the lowest fare you saw could vanish. Beware of "analysis paralysis"; you risk having the answer be that you should have snapped up the fare when you saw it. Of course, fares fluctuate since they're commodity-priced which means any numbers are only valid at that moment in time. I recommend ITA Matrix; you can see all the fares (except Southwest) in one place.

A subscription to either ExpertFlyer or KVS will give you access to fare bucket inventories, so you can see which flights have availabilty in the fare bucket you desire. Also, you will know if there are only a few seats left. Well worth the cost, IMO.

We also have found prices for two higher than a single times two. So we book online 2 singles side by side on two iPads, getting and booking single seats side by side.

That's sneaky :D

I must remember that trick.

:confused:

Mid to late February is mid-winter break for many US schools. Airfares are high then.

And the boat show dates coincide with Presidents' Day weekend which usually means higher prices for flights and hotels in and of itself... most schools have that Monday off, and many add another day or two for a midwinter break, so it's a popular time for families to cruise, or even just fly to Florida for a few days at the beach.

We also have found prices for two higher than a single times two. So we book online 2 singles side by side on two iPads, getting and booking single seats side by side.

That's sneaky :D

 

I must remember that trick.

This is because, on most airlines' systems, if that's the pricing that's showing (eg $100 per person if you ask for 1 ticket, $120 per person if you ask for two), the airline will only take one reservation at the $100 fare and will remove it from inventory at some point in the booking process.

In this situation, the first person who gets to that point will get the $100 ticket, and the second person won't. Even if you're working on two computers side by side, one request will always come in ahead of the other one (even if only by milliseconds), and the request that comes in second will be met with a "can't confirm" response because the $100 seat is no longer there, it having been sold to the first request.

Even if you manage to trick the computers into selling $100 seats to both requests, you also have the problem that you then have two separate bookings, which the airline may split up if things go wrong (eg the aircraft changes or the flight is cancelled). You have to be ready to deal with this if it happens.

We also have found prices for two higher than a single times two. So we book online 2 singles side by side on two iPads, getting and booking single seats side by side.

I also didn't understand this post, as that's not how it works. If there's only one seat left at a certain price, there's only one seat left. You don't get two seats at that price by booking on a different computer/iPad.

The only explanation I can think of for this working for you is you just happened to do this when another seat was added to the lower fare bucket for whatever reason. And yes, it can happen that fast.

.

Even if you manage to trick the computers into selling $100 seats to both requests, you also have the problem that you then have two separate bookings, which the airline may split up if things go wrong (eg the aircraft changes or the flight is cancelled). You have to be ready to deal with this if it happens.

I'm used to that with reward flights and don't see why people worry about it. The chances of being separated are small, and even if you are it's not like you are never going to see each other again.

From another Canadian, I do know how it feels about airfares. Like one user said, it could have been last available ticket at the price.

Try looking around using Matrix ITA with nearby airports selected. I know Buffalo could be an option, have you tried that. I do know there is a shuttle that can bring you there from Toronto.

Also fares do vary depending how far you book and how you book.

 

Even if you manage to trick the computers into selling $100 seats to both requests, you also have the problem that you then have two separate bookings, which the airline may split up if things go wrong (eg the aircraft changes or the flight is cancelled). You have to be ready to deal with this if it happens.

Be careful if you're planning to receive credit card perks. I have the AA credit card and my famy members need to be on the SAME booking number to have free checked luggage, priority boarding, etc. Just having the same travel plans won't qualify.