Why Are Prices Higher During Busy Times?
Yeah, it’s kind of strange when you think about it. A ride home can cost one price before a concert ends and a lot more once everyone starts leaving, even though you’re going the same distance.
The big difference is that now a lot more people want a ride at the same time. There are only so many drivers available, and some businesses charge more when lots of people are trying to get something that’s limited.
What “Busy” Means
And it doesn’t have to be something as obvious as everyone leaving a concert at once. Around a holiday, more people may be looking for flights for days at a time. A big game can create a much smaller rush, where parking or hotel rooms near the stadium suddenly become harder to find.
Sometimes it’s simply one weekend when a lot more people than usual are trying to stay in the same place. The hotel hasn’t added or removed rooms. There are just more people trying to book them.
There Is Still Only So Much Available
The tricky part is that a business often can’t suddenly make more of whatever everyone wants. A hotel can’t add rooms for a busy weekend, and an airplane can’t add a bunch of seats because more people want to take that flight.
So when a lot of people are trying to get one of the rooms, seats, spaces, or rides that are available, some businesses charge more than they would when fewer people want them.
That’s how the exact same hotel room can have one price this weekend and a very different price next weekend. Nothing about the room itself has to change.
Busy Doesn’t Always Mean a Higher Price
Just because something is busy doesn’t mean the price has to go up. Businesses can handle those busy times differently, and some don’t change their prices at all.
When prices do change, sometimes the higher price is already set for a time that’s expected to be busy. Other prices can move as things get busier or quieter. That’s what happens with dynamic pricing. The surge pricing you might see when trying to get a ride is one familiar version of it.
And those prices can move back down too. Once fewer people are looking for rides, rooms or seats, the higher price that showed up during the rush may no longer be there.