My wife’s aunt, he family matriarch, turns 100 on Saturday. Naturally there will be a party, though, given her age, not a large one.

My wife will be there. She’s been traveling for business and was able to arrange a stopover. Some other family members will be there too.

I had thought of going too, but wasn’t sure about how long I could or should go for. Any trip to Germany carries with it the desire to return to Sulzburg, to spend time with the friends we made during the four years we lived there. September is going to be a busy month, with commitments I should not break.

I waffled back and forth mentally, and decided not this time – but probably next year. One of the factors was a business trip I was scheduled to make in October, which has since been postponed. I’m not a fan of the hassles of air travel these days, and didn’t like the thought of flying in September and October. (Yes, I know that is irrational.)

But with the October trip no longer a factor, I was thinking. Maybe I could find a bargain priced flight and just go for the weekend.  So I looked online.

There was nothing in the various travel websites. Indeed, prices at this last minute were higher than I had hoped, about $3,000 return. It is still summer. Fares are higher before school returns. Still though,

I had thought that maybe the price for a weekend return trip would be less than that. Vacationers aren’t booking for such a short period, business people don’t come and go on the weekend. I though they might drop the price on seats that otherwise would be unused.

Then I checked with Air Canada. According to the website the were able to fly me to Germany at a somewhat reasonable price, pretty much the same as the travel websites I had checked. The return flight was another matter.

I know that airlines don’t operate on fixed pricing, and that the person seated besides you in the aircraft could have paid hundreds of dollars more (or less) than you for the same flight. I understand that it is supply and demand, that prices are constantly changing and that waiting this long means higher prices.

What I didn’t expect was that a seat in Economy would be four times the cost of one in Business Class. Usually it is the other way around.

Can someone explain this to me? Why would anyone pay $11,957 to fly Economy when a Business Class seat is $3,784?

As anyone who has flown knows, seats in Economy are cramped and not very comfortable on a long flight. In Business Class, not only are the seats bigger but they can be converted into a bed. And the food is tastier.

The only thing I can think of is that pricing is controlled by some sort of algorithm. Maybe there is artificial intelligence involved. Certainly there was no real intelligence used in setting the prices.

Needless to say, I didn’t buy a ticket. I’ll probably join the party by video link, which is not ideal – I don’t hear German the same way online as I do in person.

I am left wondering though if anyone has taken Air Canada up on their prices. And if so, what sort of person pays more to travel Economy than Business Class.