Budget Travel: When good deals disappear: The old bait and switch?

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

When good deals disappear: The old bait and switch? - This Just In - Budget Travel

Thought this was interesting ....

When good deals disappear: The old bait and switch?
Posted by: Erik Torkells, Editor in Chief, Friday, May 9, 2008, 11:15 AM
While booking online, have you ever clicked on a rate only to find that it was no longer available and replaced by a higher one? When that recently happened to David Rowell at The Travel Insider, he tried again. His report on what happened is below. In the meantime, please share any instances of this happening to you!

David's report:


"I experienced something like that myself when booking a London hotel last week. I used Lastminute.com, a sister company to Travelocity, and found a hotel I liked with a total cost for my stay of £300. After researching the hotel, I decided to book it and clicked on the 'book' button, only to get an excuse from Lastminute.com telling me that between when I'd first requested the rate and when I went to book the hotel, there'd been an increase in rate, and the £300 rate was no longer available. The lowest rate was now £357.

I winced and wished I'd been quicker to book the hotel. But then, I thought suspiciously to myself - is this really true? So I re-requested the hotel availability and rate, and guess what? The rate now showed as £300 again. I instantly booked it, but there was the apology and the £357 rate once more. Even at £357 it was an okay deal, so I shrugged and proceeded to book it. And then, out of curiosity, did another availability request, and there it was again - back at £300."

...........continue.......

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

I have seen this for years. in fact it has been going on with airfares with search engines for years.

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

This may not be a bait and switch situation. You have to understand how these travel search engines work.

They cache the information (air fares, hotel rates, etc.) every so often so that searches can be performed quickly. Then when someone wants to actually make a reservation, they then need to connect to the reservation system and confirm the rate. If the rate changed from the last time it was cached (not necessarily the last search), then you would see the discrepancy noted in the article.

You will notice that the article didn't say they tried a different day and the rate was still £300. If they would have done that, then it would prove it was a bait and switch. As it stands, the article proves nothing, IMO.

Kurt

[GeoPatSK Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close GeoPatSK]

When good deals disappear: The old bait and switch?

I have noticed this a lot with travel search engines like Kayak.

Even going back a day later ,the lower rates still appears, and when you click it to go to the source to book, your are told that the rate has increased.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

On a related note, Hotwire tracks your site usage, and if you repeat a recent search you may get different offers. A couple of times, I've gone back to my original search, using my browser history, and been able to bring back the same rates I was offered initially.

Then using a separate computer, I've been able to go in and repeat the same thing - the same initial offer, a change in rates when repeating the inquiry a day later, then resurrecting the initial rates by via browser history.

I believe the tracking is done via cookies, so clearing cookies might also get you back to the initial offer.