What is a ghost/phantom fare?

A ghost fare (also known as a phantom fare) is when a flight appears a certain price on an aggregator or OTA, but is actually more expensive when you proceed to book the flight.

Cached pricing data is usually to blame for the incorrect price.

How can I identify a ghost fare?

The only way you’ll really know if the price you are looking at is a ghost fare, is if you proceed to book the flight.

When your are at the payment details stage, this is when the price correction will typically occur.

Are ghost fares common?

No. They are very rare.

Secret Flying publishes over 1,500 flight deals each month. We hardly ever receive feedback from one of our users saying the deal we found is a ghost fare.

Is there a way to book the original advertised price?

You could try other OTAs. Just because one OTA re-prices at the payment details stage, it doesn’t mean all of them will.

Just be super careful you know what the final price is before submitting your payment details.