Author: Elliot

Elliot Marsh has been writing about airline pricing for travel and consumer publications for the past eight years. He’s especially interested in finding out how fares really work, often going straight to the people who build the systems behind them. He follows airfare data across U.S. airports week by week, turning it into practical advice for people who simply want to pay less for their next flight. Based in Chicago, Elliot usually flies economy – unless the numbers give him a good reason not to.

“Ghost Deals”: The 90%-Off Fares That Vanish Before Search Sites Even See Them – and the Travellers Who Catch Them Anyway

By Elliot
September 29, 2026

They are rarer than the forums say and realer than the sceptics think. The reason you have never seen one is timing, not luck. By Elliot Marsh, travel journalist covering airline pricing for 8 years The famous specimen On 2 September a round trip from Chicago to London…

By Elliot
September 25, 2026

Fourteen months of raw fare data. The sale was not the story. What sat under it was worth far more.By Elliot Marsh, TopTravel News Last autumn I wrote what every travel writer writes in October. Hold off. The sale is coming. Book on Black Friday. Then a reader…

By Elliot
August 4, 2026

By Elliot Marsh, travel journalist who has spent 8 years reporting on how airlines set fares Last summer, US senators warned that Delta’s AI pricing could push fares “up to each consumer’s personal pain point.” That phrase made headlines. It shouldn’t have surprised anyone who follows airline pricing.…

By Elliot
August 4, 2026

The surge is real – measured, reported, printed on your last booking confirmation. What nobody tells you: a small group of travelers isn’t paying it. Dana paid $732 for Dublin this spring. Her coworker – same airport, same month – paid $352. Here’s how the system I’ve spent…

Author: Elliot

“Ghost Deals”: The 90%-Off Fares That Vanish Before Search Sites Even See Them – and the Travellers Who Catch Them Anyway

I Told My Readers to Wait for the Black Friday Flight Sale. Then a Flight App Sent Me the Receipts.

Airlines Now Use AI to Find Your Personal ‘Pain Point’ Price – How to Turn the Algorithm Against Them

Airfares Are Up 21% in Just 4 Months – a Journalist Who Covers Airline Pricing Reveals Who’s Still Flying at Last Year’s Prices