Unpopular opinion: flight booking sites are lying to you about "deals"

I used to always trust those price trackers that say "you saved $50 on this flight." But last month I booked a trip to Denver and noticed something weird. The same Delta flight was $280 on Google Flights but $310 on some travel site that claimed a "deal." I started checking 3 different sites before buying anything and realized they bump up the base price so the "savings" look real. My buddy who works at a travel agency confirmed it - most of those alerts are fake. He said airlines control the real lowest prices through their own sites or certain credit card portals. Now I just check the airline directly first and use flight trackers to see trends, not actual deals. Has anyone else caught a site inflating prices like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

christopherw3412d ago

Someone on a travel forum explained it like hotel booking sites do the same thing, showing a "discounted" rate that's actually higher than the standard price. A travel blogger I follow broke down how these sites use dynamic pricing to make you think you're getting a steal when you're really just paying their preferred markup. Makes you wonder how much of the "huge savings" stuff is just smoke and mirrors, right?

alicemurphy11d ago

Yeah I totally agree with what you said about "smoke and mirrors" because I caught the same thing with hotel sites last summer. I was looking at a Marriott in Chicago and Expedia said I was saving $80 but when I checked the hotel's own site it was actually $20 cheaper than the "sale" price. Now I just use Google Flights to see what's out there and then go straight to the airline or hotel site to book. It takes an extra 5 minutes but I'd rather know I'm not getting tricked into thinking I found a deal.

lily_torres319d ago

@christopherw34 right on point - Expedia tried selling me a "sale" room that was $40 more than booking direct.