Why do airlines charge you seemingly randomly throughout the year? Even during the holidays, sometimes you can get a cheaper rate pending on when you buy. But then you get stupid shit like this where you spend less time flying, but are charged more for the EXACT same flight path/trip. Why aren't price regulations a thing with the airlines? They ALL do this, which heavily implies price fixing.I guess a side question is, how do you afford air travel? What is the cheapest way to buy a plane ticket without an absurd layover?
>>2648632Your choice of airport matters a lot. If I fly out of my regional one the costs are 2x. If I hop on Amtrak and ride for 5 hours for $25 I will save 1k USD.
>>2648632The airline's algorithm is all about finding a balance between maximizing availability and filling seats. Obviously, flight combos which are undesirable and therefore more likely to have empty seats will be set at a lower price. >>2648716This depends on the flight volume from your regional airport. Reno to Los Angeles is a well-served route, so rates are competitive. The only alternatives to flying are a 12 hour bus ride, or 20 hours on Amtrak with an overnight stop in Emeryville. I did the second option last November, kek.
I hate southwest for buying AirTran. They were a good airline. Used to have lower fare out HPN. Then southwest bought them and stopped flying from there. Now prices from that airport are jacked up
>>2648632>Why do airlines charge you seemingly randomly throughout the year? Because you don't have an access to data they use in order to set their prices. That's why it's random to you and to them it makes perfect sense
>>2648632Pricing algos can be weirdRecently I noticed that some airlines charge as much, if not more for booking 8-12 months ahead as they do for 2 weeks aheadI can't say I understand why, but I have taken advantage of the cheaper tickets on short notice in these cases, I hate planning things far in advance
>>2648632You have a mix of (I assume) Machine Learning algorithms predicting the amount of customers within a certain time frame combined with Operations Research optimization algorithms solving to achieve optimal results for certain goals some strategic management guys came up with, taking into account dozens if not hundreds of variables and constraints. The fact that things are dynamic out there makes it even more whoozey.>Why aren't price regulations a thing with the airlines? They ALL do this, which heavily implies price fixing.Because it is a fairly competetive market and thus already favours the customer quite heavily. Look at shit like "privatized" train companies, which are highly regulated. You always have delays, bad customer service and absolutely staggering costs for even short trips.>>2648803Wasn't there a time in the past when last minute tickets were actually the cheap ones since the air line would rather sell cheap than have empty seats?
>>2648938>Wasn't there a time in the past when last minute tickets were actually the cheap ones since the air line would rather sell cheap than have empty seats?That was way back, then it turned into a constant increase as you get closer to the flight date due to airlines overbooking flights to ensure no empty seats.Not sure why I started to be able to find cheaper short notice tickets recently to be honest, might have to do with my home airport since it's not a major one and I always need at least one layover for flights to USA or Asia.
>>2648803I choose the happy median of a couple months before the flight that way my plans are locked in.
