Expensive lesson learned

FLUFFYX

I was looking for a cheap all inclusive holiday and found a great deal with Onthebeach for £580 per person for 2 weeks. But as I'm always looking for a better deal I kept searching other sites. The next day when I went back to Onthebeach all ready to book, I found the price had gone up to over £800! Even checking other sites the cheapest I could get was £726 which is what I ended up paying before it went up again.
I've found from Googling why prices go up that the more searches a holiday or hotel gets, even if you don't book, it affects the price. So basically I think I've cheated myself out of a good deal by trying to get a better one! So if you see a good deal - book it quick!!

heatherw_01

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Caz3121

FLUFFYX wrote: »

I've found from Googling why prices go up that the more searches a holiday or hotel gets, even if you don't book, it affects the price. !

I think you will find that that is a myth....more likely that in the 24 hours between you looking someone may have booked the last seat/seats in the cheaper fare bucket so the prices increased to the next fare bucket
When someone is processing a booking the seats may be taken out the available inventory for a set period to allow them the complete the booking....after that time period elapses they would drop back in.
Many third parties also do not have live flight prices so there is a chance that even if you had tried to purchase at £580 you may not have been able to
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/travel-website-beach-slammed-adding-7821827

leylandsunaddict

I've found from Googling why prices go up that the more searches a holiday or hotel gets, even if you don't book, it affects the price.

The good old cookie monster lol. It's a myth. Searching does not increase price, people buying does.

The prices you see on most OTAs sites aren't live, neither is the availability. You don't actually book anything on their site either, you just make a request to purchase. Nothing is confirmed until you get a booking confirmation on behalf of their supplier(s).

Your £580 total may never have existed, or one or more of the elements of your booking request may have been unavailable.

Potbellypig

I have booked plenty of holidays through those kind of sites and I have never had a price change.

As for the OP - searching changes nothing and they can change quite quickly.

leylandsunaddict

Potbellypig wrote: »

I have booked plenty of holidays through those kind of sites and I have never had a price change.

Plenty that have though. Although their T&Cs make it very clear that pricing/availability isn't live, so many people just accept them without reading them first, which is really stupid.

MATTR5

Prices CAN go up if you keep looking at a holiday - Its not a myth - you can even hold off seats by just closing some pages -
Also the site can tell where you live and what yiour spending habits are and tailor a price to this
Im a Travel Agent of 25 years and we use Private browsing to check if a lower price is available - This is how I sometimes beat prices

Mattr5
I am a Travel Agent
My company’s ABTA/ATOL numbers are G9172/6053. MSE doesn't check my status as a Travel Agent, so you need to take my word for it. You can check my ATOL with the CAA. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Travel Agent Code of Conduct.

k4ren2006

Give it a week or so without checking and it may come back down again, if not, they may offer you a decent deal somewhere else  because of cookies, they know you're close to booking

cubegame

MATTR5 said:

Prices CAN go up if you keep looking at a holiday - Its not a myth - you can even hold off seats by just closing some pages -
Also the site can tell where you live and what yiour spending habits are and tailor a price to this
Im a Travel Agent of 25 years and we use Private browsing to check if a lower price is available - This is how I sometimes beat prices

Mattr5
I am a Travel Agent
My company’s ABTA/ATOL numbers are G9172/6053. MSE doesn't check my status as a Travel Agent, so you need to take my word for it. You can check my ATOL with the CAA. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Travel Agent Code of Conduct.

If companies are well equipped enough to modify prices like this then they would not be defeated by private browsing.

slinga

k4ren2006 said:

Give it a week or so without checking and it may come back down again, if not, they may offer you a decent deal somewhere else  because of cookies, they know you're close to booking

Why not delete cookies and then try again?

Suzuka96

There was a program on tv last year that proved it was a myth.  I’m a price watcher checki regularly and never had it increase because I was looking unless a increase was due.