My flight to Lisbon went from $850 to $480 in one afternoon

I was watching a Tuesday morning flight for weeks, and the price just sat there. Then around 3 pm, I checked again and it had dropped by almost half. I think airlines adjust prices based on how many seats are left that day. Has anyone else seen a big price drop at a certain time of day?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_susan1mo agoTop Commenter

My buddy had the same thing happen with a trip to Denver. He was checking a flight every day for two weeks, same high price every morning. Then one night around 10 pm, he looked on a whim and it was suddenly half off. He bought it right then and the price was back up the next day. It felt totally random.

the_ben2mo ago

Actually airlines use complex software that changes prices constantly. It's less about a specific time of day and more about real-time demand. The drop you saw was probably just the algorithm's latest move.

the_oliver2mo ago

Oh come on, it's not rocket science. I booked a flight last month that jumped $50 while I was picking seats. That's not some smart "real-time demand" thing, that's just a computer seeing I was on the site and trying to squeeze me. They make it sound so fancy to justify the crazy prices.