The Secrets of Airline Pricing

The price of your airplane ticket has nothing to do with the actual cost of the flight.

It’s a high-stakes game called revenue management. Airlines treat seats as a perishable

good; once the plane takes off, an empty seat is worthless. So they use dynamic

pricing to sell every seat for the maximum price someone is willing to pay. Their systems constantly

adjust fares based on demand, how far in advance you book, and even your search

history. This is why the person sitting next to you paid a completely different price.

You're not just buying a ticket; you're in a negotiation against an algorithm.