Not Always Perfect Math

The numbers don't always come out perfect. :)

I was shopping for a plane ticket for my mom, who is visiting me this winter. I usually try to get those international tickets well in advance because I can find better deals. Well, this year, with mom's physical therapy, she couldn't commit to coming until just a couple of weeks ago.

The average price for that ticket, at this time of year, is usually around $1,300. About a month ago, it dropped to just under $1,100 for a day or two, but I didn't have the permission to buy the ticket at that point. And since then, the prices jumped back up, and stayed there.

Finally, when I was ready to buy it, the quotes I got from some ten companies were around $1,400, +-$25, and I purchased it two days ago. Just a couple of hours later I was talking about it to a Bosnian friend who is also looking for a ticket, and while still on the phone she looked it up on Travelocity. The price at that moment, for a flight with just one connection different, was just $927, with all the taxes and fees! Oh-oh.

I quickly called the agency, but they already closed for the day. Tried to email them by replying to the confirmation email they sent me, but that was a no-reply email address. I even attached the Travelocity page with that price. Called the credit card company to try to cancel the transaction, but since it hasn't yet posted, they couldn't do anything about it. So, what to do? I couldn't just buy the second ticket and hope I could cancel the first one tomorrow. I was a bit upset with myself for not checking all the sites on that same day again, even though I was on Travelocity two days before, and all other sites still showed the old price.

Tomorrow morning the first thing out of bed I did was to go and check Travelocity site - the price was back to $1,400+. :( Oh, well. I can't win always. I already planned on spending this much on the ticket. But it sure would have been nice to spend 50% less.