Computers at all the airlines spread their technological fingers far and wide to find out as much information about the destinations they offer as possible.

A computer convention in Dallas starting on Tuesday and finishing Friday will mean that flights there will start to get more expensive a few days before it starts until a few days after it finishes.
Wait a week and the fare will be much cheaper.

The computers will also look at how many seats are available to each specific destination with other airlines and price accordingly.

Loads of spare seats means cheap prices, just a few left and you will see prices rising faster than a 747.

Alex McWhirter, consumer editor at Business Traveller magazine said: "The airlines call it ‘yield management’. They want to get as much money as they can for every seat.

"The larger airlines will predict a year in advance what their prices are, relying on historical patterns that will show them how busy the flights were at the same time last year.

"They are able to draw on all sorts of information when pricing their seats.

"Low cost airlines are, if anything, a bit more sophisticated. As seats are sold so the price will move."

He explained that a flight for Barcelona in December would probably only have a few bookings at present, but as the aircraft filled, so the prices would rise. Conversely, if, nearer the time the seats failed to sell, or there were hundreds of seats available with another airline at the same time, then the price could be even cheaper than now.

On websites a lot of airlines will add on what is known as TFCs - taxes, fees and charges - at the end of the booking process.

These charges can include local airport taxes, passenger service charges, fuel, security and even wheelchair surcharges.What can seem like a cheap ticket could end up costing twice as much once the TFCs have been added on.

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