[xyzzyz]

This is called market segmentation, and in competitive markets (like, say, flying or hotels) it’s a good thing: it allows the carrier to sell early tickets at very low prices, often well below the actual marginal cost of the last seat, because these losses will be made up by people who have urgent need for travel right now, and so are much less price sensitive. That’s how, for example, RyanAir is able to offer those 20 EUR cross Europe fares, which is well below even just the fuel cost, much less other costs.