Anyone who's lost an evening researching flight deals knows that airfare pricing can seem pretty random -- high one week, low the next and long-distance often cheaper than short-haul.
There's a method behind the madness, though.
It's called airline revenue management: the science of adjusting fares dynamically and in real time so that airlines can maximize their revenue.
And it's not just a case of simple supply and demand.
Airlines now rely on ever-more sophisticated software that takes into account a broad range of factors, from overall conditions across their global networks, right down to the individual preferences of their passengers.
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