In the time of a click, cheaper airfare just flies away

By James Eli Shiffer, Star Tribune

Last update: December 27, 2008 - 10:00 PM

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Earlier this month, Lawrence Kloiber found a great deal on www.nwa.com for an upcoming business trip: $240 plus tax for a one-way flight from Minneapolis to Phoenix, and a return flight from Seattle to Minneapolis.

He clicked on the itinerary immediately to book it. But by the time he clicked past hotel and rental car offers he didn't want so that he could authorize his credit card charge, Northwest Airlines had changed the price to $290 plus tax.

Only seconds had elapsed from the quote he accepted to the new one, said Kloiber, an engineer who lives in Minneapolis. "I couldn't believe it," he said. "I sort of looked at it, you know. I was really frustrated."

He bought the tickets anyway. The $50 price increase still sticks in his craw, so he contacted me.

Because Delta Air Lines is in the process of swallowing Northwest, nwa.com communications matters are now referred to Delta's Atlanta headquarters. Without researching the details of Kloiber's transaction, Delta spokesman Kent Landers said he suspected that it has to do with the "fare class," the blocks of seats sold at set prices.

Every air traveler knows that prices vary among first class, business class and coach. Airlines in fact price their seats with an alphabet-long list of fare classes, from low-priced to high, and if a customer sees the price change suddenly, that could mean the cheaper fare class for an identical seat has sold out.

"If there's one seat left in a fare class, and another customer comes through the booking process faster, he'll get the seat," Landers said. It's not a firm price until you pay for it.

George Hobica, creator of discount ticket website www.airfarewatchdog.com, said that unlike some airline websites, nwa.com tries to sell hotel and rental car deals to its ticket customers. That can add seconds to the transaction, long enough for a fare to evaporate.

The competition for cheaper seats is likely to get even more furious in the months ahead, Hobica said, because the number of cheaper seats is expected to dwindle.

I offered Hobica this comparison: You pick up a tube of toothpaste based on the price sticker on the shelf, only to have the checkout clerk inform you that the price had gone up during your journey to the front counter.

"The airlines get away with stuff that no other vendor of any kind would ever get away with," Hobica said.

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