The air ticket business always seems to bring endless troubles to online travel platforms。

The system clearly shows that there are still low-price tickets，But I can’t place an order。Recent，Complaints from users who are unable to purchase low-priced air tickets，Will Ctrip、Air ticket business of online travel websites such as Qunar，Pushed to the forefront again。

As one of the two main sources of revenue，The air ticket booking business has a special status for many online travel websites。At the same time，As an essential transportation link in people’s travels，Normal purchase of air tickets is also the prerequisite and basis for people to travel smoothly。

Regarding the problem of being unable to purchase low-price tickets that has recently been complained by users，Ctrip、Online travel platforms such as Qunar explained this from a technical perspective，denied speculations such as “air tickets will secretly increase in price when you search” and “fictitious low-price 188bet online sports betting air tickets to attract users to place orders”。

From the perspective of technical implementation of ticket purchase，The relevant explanation is logical。However，The above cases are only a small part of the problems encountered by users when purchasing air tickets，Otherwise，There are still many traps buried in online ticket booking。

After the regulation of ticket sales driven by airlines two years ago，Currently，The ticket sales behavior of domestic online travel websites has been greatly improved，But the problem has not been eliminated，And many problems cannot be controlled by "technology"。

According to the survey of "Deep Web"，There are many factors that affect the experience of ordinary users purchasing air tickets on online travel platforms。The root cause of endless problems in purchasing air tickets online，Still the old problem of "profit"。

188bet app

Will online travel platforms set traps with low-priced 188bet online sports betting air tickets to attract users to click but fail to purchase them?？Ctrip、Qunar firmly denies this。

According to the explanation of the relevant ticket team leader，Online travel platform as a ticket sales channel，Does not participate in the setting of air ticket prices。The only party that sets the air ticket price is the airline，The online travel platform only displays the received data truthfully on the platform。

Users’ behavior of searching for air ticket prices and placing orders on online travel websites or APPs，It requires a whole set of technical chain as support，The main players are airlines、GDS、Agent、Online travel platform。

First，Airlines based on revenue management principles，Depending on the season、Capacity changes、Flow fluctuations and other factors，Set prices for different shipping classes on different routes；Then，Airlines will send fare data，Enter GDS system；After，The online travel platform will query the cabin and price from the GDS system，And display the results in front of the user。

In this chain，The data will go through at least two transmission steps: the airline uploads to the GDS system、Then transmitted to the online travel platform by the GDS system。Airline cabins and corresponding prices change in real time，There is a time difference in the second transmission of these data。

Flight class and price information displayed by GDS system

Corresponding to the corresponding flight class and price information displayed on OTA

Due to the large search volume for air tickets，So it is impossible for various online travel platforms to directly use real-time data on freight rates and cabins，Instead, the pre-downloaded cabins are used for caching，Users go to GDS to check whether the cabin is available when placing an order。This time difference results in a certain proportion of users seeing the position when searching，The reservation cannot actually be successful。

In reality，The situation is often more complicated。For example，Since airlines often choose a GDS as their main partner，So different GDS may get different prices，This will increase the accuracy of data obtained by online travel platforms。Also，Online travel platforms will cooperate with some airlines，Direct access to airline data；At the same time，Also accesses a large number of third-party ticketing company data，Different access parties will experience different data transmission processes，This will also produce different time differences，Affects what users see and gain。

In short，The main reasons for changes in air ticket prices are real-time changes in air 188bet online sports betting ticket prices with global supply and demand and data capture from the GDS system and various sales platforms、Cache accuracy。Currently, the accuracy of various GDS data centers around the world is between 80% and 95%，There is about 10% probability of price change (including price、Changes in taxes, fees and cabins)，Mainly caused by caching issues in data transmission。

Ctrip said，The international ticket engine has 100 million inquiries per day，Every query，On average, about 1,000 cabins need to be searched，For cabin inquiry，There are hundreds of billions of queries every day。And airlines、GDS systems all have query volume limitations，And all queries have costs，Not caching from a technical and cost perspective，All are not feasible。

Qunar said，The system will verify when the user pays，Match the airline’s latest “inventory”。If the price is inconsistent，The system will issue a prompt，Notify users of price changes。

“Air ticket price changes are an industry-wide problem。Considering the damage that price changes will do to user experience and payment success rate，Qunar has already borne part of the cost，To pay the difference in price increase for users。When the ticket price changes upward within 60 yuan，Qunar will bear the price difference by itself，Users will complete payment and reservation at the original displayed price without any awareness。When the ticket price exceeds 60 yuan，Where will the user be prompted for price changes? Please search again。”

Technology can explain why low-price tickets cannot be booked successfully，But in the complex ticket sales chain，The problems encountered by users are far more than that simple。

Low price trap

Online travel websites may not deliberately set up low-price tickets that cannot exist as a trap to attract users to click，But in some cases，Low-price tickets may themselves be a trap。

Search for flight information on online travel websites，The same position on the same flight often has different prices，This situation is especially obvious on international flights。

The prices displayed on Ctrip, Qunar and Fliggy for the same flight

Choosing low-priced products when purchasing tickets is the natural choice for most users，But low price often means there are more hidden costs，These costs are usually difficult for ordinary users to detect。

Take the international air tickets provided by Qunar as an example，It usually displays Qunar stores、Business Travel Package、Quick ticket issuance、Low price special offer、Qunar Special Offer、Insurance discounts and other products with different prices，188bet online sports betting The price difference between these different products is usually within a few hundred yuan。Why are there so many prices for the same cabin class on the same flight？The answer is hidden in the product description。

Currently，Ctrip、Qunar、Major online travel platforms such as Fliggy，All provide detailed descriptions of products with different prices，It can be seen from the description，The reason for the different prices lies in the conditions for refund and change、Ticket issuance time、Customer Service、Related to whether insurance is bound or not。

On Qunar，The lowest prices are often products such as "Low Price Specials" or "Qunar Specials"，But users can only find out by clicking on the detailed product description and reading it carefully，Most of these low-cost air tickets are special products，For example, it promises to complete ticket issuance 4 hours before departure，This means，User before leaving，Only before you can actually buy the ticket - even though you have already completed the payment before。

On Flying Pig，The lowest prices are often on products labeled "On Sale"，Same，Users can only read the product description in detail，Only found，The prerequisite for normal use of this low-price product is that "tickets must be used in the order of flight departure time，Otherwise you will not be able to board the plane”。

In fact，Special air tickets issued 4 hours before departure provided by Qunar，The tickets provided by Fliggy must be used in the order of flight departure time，All in the gray area of ​​ticket booking。

Although these tickets are cheap，But there are often greater risks，For example, suppose that the user cannot issue tickets normally before departure，The user’s next trip will inevitably be affected，Will suffer huge losses。

Based on the trial of "Deep Web"，Qunar、These low-price products on Fliggy are often provided by third-party ticketing services，Although in this way，The platform provides users with more diverse price options，But in a sense，This also reduces the risk of the platform itself。

The risks hidden in these low-price tickets，It is not caused by "technical" reasons。Beyond technology，Complex business considerations are a more important factor affecting the design of air ticket products on online travel platforms。Among them，Profit is the core driving force。

Tradeoffs other than technology

Although the main task of the air ticket product technical team of online travel platforms is to improve the success rate of users booking air tickets，But in some scenes，Technology is not the core factor that determines user experience。Low-price tickets are 188bet app download a typical representative，The occurrence of this phenomenon is inseparable from the current situation of domestic air ticket sales。

Airlines have many ways to sell tickets: airline direct sales、Online travel platform self-operated、Platform mode and proxy。

Direct sales means airlines sell tickets directly to users (such as airline official website、APP and other channels)；The online travel platform is self-operated, that is, selling tickets to users through the online travel platform’s own air ticket agency qualifications (Ctrip’s self-operated air ticket bookings fall into this category)；The platform is a platform that gathers a large number of offline agents，Provide users with a ticket purchasing platform，Users choose agents to purchase tickets (Qunar、Fliggy’s third-party business falls into this category)，Agent sells tickets to users through ticket agents of various sizes。

In this ticket sales chain，The agency link is the most prone to gray operating practices，For the purpose of pursuing profits，Agents will try their best to obtain low-price tickets through various means，The so-called low-price tickets include points tickets、Internal ticket、Team tickets sold in bulk、Key Customer Agreement、Trouble with abandonment and cancellation, etc.，Although these low-price tickets look beautiful，But due to some special conditions of use，Once the flaw is discovered by the airline，The user may not be able to board the flight normally。

Gray low-price tickets once caused huge trouble for Ctrip，Two years ago，A user complained about being unable to board the plane after purchasing a ticket on Ctrip，It once caused a tsunami-like public opinion crisis for this online travel platform giant。

Under huge risks，The reason why online travel platforms are still willing to take risks and list such products is very simple: it is profitable。

In addition to making a fuss about air ticket prices through third-party agents，Online travel platforms are also racking their brains to package air ticket products，For example, if the ticket issuance time is faster or the refund fee is lower, the ticket price will be higher，On the contrary, the price is lower。Under the logic of this product，Ticket issuance time、The refund and change fee is an "additional service" provided by the platform to users，In fact，Tickets sold directly by airlines often cover these normal services。In other words，So-called additional services，It is an additional charge that online travel platforms increase to generate revenue。

Online travel platform air ticket booking revenue mainly comes from the following aspects: agency 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino fees (currently domestic air ticket agency fees are zero)、Sales rewards (you can get rewards after completing the sales tasks of the airline)、The platform charges commission to third-party ticketing companies。With airlines vigorously increasing the proportion of direct sales and the current air ticket sales rules，Via agency fee、The space for profit from sales incentives has been greatly compressed，Therefore，Making a fuss about refunds, changes, and platform commissions has become the main source of profit。

Driven by profit，Online travel platforms are willing to allow gray tickets from third-party ticketing、It is understandable that we deliberately design products with different prices。But from the user’s perspective，This design is very unfriendly。

An insider of an online travel platform once confessed to "Deepnet"，“We ourselves feel that product design is too complicated”，But under the superposition of a series of factors，Such a complex price design still exists today，Affects the actual experience of every user。

In the opinion of industry insiders，“Users have no way to distinguish between many suppliers，It is wrong to accuse users of choosing low-price tickets。”

For online travel platforms with a large number of users，To improve user experience，Necessary to sacrifice part of the income。Under the accumulated competition，It is already difficult to make profit in the ticket business，In the slim profit margin，Problems encountered by users，It seems to have become an intractable knot。

*Source of this article: Tencent "First Line"，Author: Han Yimin，Original title: "The "low-price trap" of air ticket booking: the business dilemma behind the industry's stubborn diseases》.