Price fluctuations snagging a deal?

flatulantyounggoat

I'm trying to book a long haul flight from Heathrow to Sri Lanka. Yesterday, I found a flight for £430ish. Wasn't quite ready to book as I was getting accommodation lined up and I check today. BOOM flights are now £570 return. Feel well shafted especially as I'm booked for two and suddenly I'm paying an extra £280.

Is there a knack for this, you know not getting ripped off. Should I just keep checking SS or GF for better flights each day, do they come and go suddenly. I'm a bit clueless I'm afraid so any practical advice here would help.

eDicky

It's not a case of getting 'ripped off', flight prices are always dynamic and waiting for a day risks those seats you saw being booked by someone else and you're then looking at the higher priced fare bucket.

It helps if you can be flexible on dates. Otherwise if you see a good fare, grab it while you can, it's much more likely to go up than down tomorrow.

dj1471

How far ahead are you booking? If it's a way out it's possible more of the cheaper fares will be released at a later date, or the airline may have a sale later in the year. It's a gamble.

Accommodation prices tend to be much more stable and predictable so there's not much risk in focusing on getting a good deal on the flights and sorting out the accommodation afterwards.

MiraculousM

also, ensure that you are looking at these sites with in "incognito" mode.

Cookies indicate to the website that you wanted flights on those dates and will boost them up.

Go back in a couple of days,

jpsartre

The knack is to book when you see a price you are happy to pay. There's nothing to the myth about cookies pushing prices up.

dj1471

jpsartre wrote: »

There's nothing to the myth about cookies pushing prices up.

Not quite true, prices can vary depending on the route you take to reach the site. Comparison site? Cheaper prices. Cashback site? More expensive prices. I've seen it myself. Granted it tends to be the shonky OTAs who do this rather than the airlines directly, but we don't know where the OP is planning to book.

mattyprice4004

Unfortunately that’s how flights are - they can double in price overnight.
Hanging around when booking flights is usually a bad idea, best to jump on it ASAP