Why the price of an airline ticket changes 10 times a day

We are sure that you, while searching for tickets, wondered why ticket prices change. Today, on the Kupi.com Blog, we will address this question.

If you have ever searched for airline tickets for a certain period, for example, a week or two, you would have noticed that prices tend to change. Sometimes it even happens that you found a great price, but decided to wait a few hours with the booking, and then, upon revisiting the website, the ticket price is completely different.

The reason for this is most likely not the website where you are searching for tickets, but the airline. Like any business, its main goal is to make a profit.

An assistant in this matter is the yield management system, which allows setting different prices for different groups of buyers with the aim of dynamically maximizing revenue on each flight.

It's easiest to explain this with an example. Let's say there are 100 seats on a flight to Istanbul. Among the passengers, there will be two different groups of buyers:

– 20 seats — businessmen who are traveling for work. They quickly look for ways to get to Istanbul, regardless of the ticket price;

– 80 seats — other passengers who are more price-sensitive, and if the price exceeds their budget for airline tickets, they simply won't fly.

If the company sets high ticket prices, then only passengers from the first group will fly, and 80% of the cabin will be empty. If prices are lowered to a level acceptable for the second group, the airline will lose potential profit from passengers in the first group. This is a real dilemma.

However, airlines have found a way to resolve it: they set different prices to sell each seat on the plane at the highest possible price.

If 10 people on the entire flight are willing to buy a ticket on Kupi.com for 500 dollars, they will gladly sell it for 500. If there are 20 people willing to take a ticket for 400 dollars, they will sell it for 400, and so on, until the entire plane is filled.

How do they do it

It's very simple: we have written many times on our blog that there are different fares on each flight. There can be just a few, which is most common on domestic flights within Russia, or several dozens (on international routes).

Let's consider an example with fares on the Moscow — Istanbul flight. In economy class, the airline offers various fares ranging from 17,495 to 80,165 rubles.

The most interesting thing is: no matter how much money you paid for the airline ticket, you will still sit in the same seats, eat the same food. That is, in essence, it will not affect the service and comfort of the flight at all.

The only advantage of more expensive fares is that you can return or exchange airline tickets without penalties or with a minimal penalty. However, if you are sure that your plans will not change, what benefit do you get from the fact that this ticket can be returned?

Now that you know the lowest price for a Moscow — Istanbul ticket is 17,495 rubles, you will naturally want to purchase it at that price. But it's not so easy to buy a cheap ticket on Kupi.com... The airline restricts the purchase conditions and the number of tickets at low fares.

We tell you when it's best to buy airline tickets. For example, an airline ticket at a fare of 17,495 rubles can be purchased no less than 21 days before departure. Moreover, the flight must be on a specific day of the week. The closer the departure date, the higher the ticket price will be.

Simply put, the lower the cost of an airline ticket, the more restrictions the airline imposes on its sale.

Therefore, if you are looking for a ticket 21 days before departure, you have a chance to buy it for only 17,495 rubles. The very next day, you will move into a different price category and pay more.

Therefore, as soon as you see an acceptable price for an airline ticket, don't wait a year — book immediately. There's no point in hoping for price reductions — it's a very rare phenomenon. Especially on popular routes, and even more so during peak tourist season.

The same story applies to the number of tickets at low fares. Here, the yield management system comes into play, which analyzes a thousand different factors and, depending on the information received, adjusts the number of seats for each fare.

The airline reduces the number of seats at cheap fares if ticket demand increases, and conversely, increases them if demand falls. All this happens in real-time, so the ticket price can change within a day or even an hour.

For example, only three seats remained at the cheapest fare of 17,495 rubles. Someone traveling with their whole family immediately bought them. The next available fare would cost 23,000 rubles, but the airline's yield management system determined that tickets were selling too quickly and closed the sale of fares at that price. Consequently, the airline ticket price will jump to the next fare, and it will cost more than 23,000 rubles.

What if ten people cancel their airline tickets or change them to other dates

This will depend on the amount of time remaining until departure. If it's around 30–40 days, then most likely it will not affect the ticket price at all. But if there are only 3–4 days left until departure, the airline may reopen sales at fares of 17,495 or 23,000 rubles to avoid sending a plane with empty seats.

However, this situation is very rare. In the vast majority of cases, the fewer days remaining until departure, the higher the airline ticket price.

What about airline ticket sales then?

We are all used to thinking that an airline ticket sale is when the seller offers a discount from the original price. But with airline tickets, it's completely different.

Let us tell you a little secret: the airline doesn't have a sale. It simply opens another category of fares for sale. But more on that next time. We wish you great travels and tickets at a pleasant price!