Buying international airfare... Completely ridiculous

[ThreadBomber]

My wife and I are flying from Vancouver to Lima in June and have been looking at airfare for a few days. I have found a flight we want, and the price was $1018 on Orbitz and $1038 on Hotwire. First time I tried to buy it, it said the flight was no longer available. I re-searched and it had gone up to $1223. I waited a few days until this morning, when it was back to $1018. Clicked the buy button within ten seconds, and again the flight was not available and has gone to $1223. I went to Hotwire and it was $1040, clicked buy and again it increased to $1230 or something. These are not taxes being added, the original search price is supposed to include everything.

What the hell is going on here? There is no way you can tell me someone bought tickets seconds before I tried to both times. So aggravating, I'm almost ready to book something else and tell these sites/airlines to get bent.

[mauslick]

the only site I've found that gives you the 'final price' up front is china airlines
I can't remember buying a ticket without the dreaded fees and taxes being added on after a couple of clicks

I have many times clicked on 'the lowest fare' and had it come up no longer available or 'this fare has changed since it was published last"

with the airfare game it moves very fast and they can change within hours............I 've been told the lowest fares are published sometime monday nights (EST) for tuesday offer....

I think there is something to that......

best of luck and have fun in Lima......

[NoDubJustYet]

I think things have changed recently...

I've purchased tickets on Air France, Delta, and Lufthansa recently, and there have never been any hidden costs tacked on.

[Spinnaker]

US Law states total price included fuel and tax must be displayed up front?

edit: OP it may be that the Orbitz distribution system is mis-communicating with that of the airline. The software doesn't always play nicely and could be showing seat inventories that are not available.

[Candy White 1.ight]

US Law states total price included fuel and tax must be displayed up front?

No, the law is that the taxes must he HIDDEN in the up front price. That way, they can raise them, and nobody will know, and will blame the airlines.

[Spinnaker]

No, the law is that the taxes must he HIDDEN in the up front price. That way, they can raise them, and nobody will know, and will blame the airlines.

Incorrect.

U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) rules require that airlines include any airline fees in the totals they display on the Internet or in print advertising. The only allowable exclusions are specified fees and taxes collected by the airlines on behalf of government bodies and airports. Several other countries have similar requirements. The European Union has recently adopted an even more stringent requirement that airlines must include all the taxes and fees—even those collected for governments and airports. In the last year I haven't seen any airline ads or online postings that violated that law.

[Candy White 1.ight]

Incorrect.

U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) rules require that airlines include any airline fees in the totals they display on the Internet or in print advertising. The only allowable exclusions are specified fees and taxes collected by the airlines on behalf of government bodies and airports. Several other countries have similar requirements. The European Union has recently adopted an even more stringent requirement that airlines must include all the taxes and fees—even those collected for governments and airports. In the last year I haven't seen any airline ads or online postings that violated that law.

Yeah, just what I said: DOT rules now require that airlines hide government taxes in the total that they display.

This way, the old gubment can increase taxes without anybody knowing, and consumers will blame the airlines for higher prices.

[wookee]

I have noticed that price hike thing happens on some sites. Clearing my cookies in the browser, then running it again showed the lower fare. It's all just a game.

[Bullitt_TDI]

I use www.yapta.com for flight price tracking.