Tricks to getting a good deal on the flight?

Understand what a good price is, what a mediocre price is. Decide on a strike price. If your price comes up, then hit the buy button. Shop on google air or review options on matrix.it.

Price your air as a return. Then price as 2 one ways on different airlines. Cherry pick if it is to your advantage. Check alternate airports-departure and arrival if applicable. When we cruise out of FLL we check for FLL, MIA, and PBI air as well as one ways.

Prices are based on supply and demand logarithms.

OP - highly recommend you depart on Feb 2nd. Prices on UA for these dates around $304 RT.

If you could leave from JFK, you can get nonstops on DL for $264.

Hoping to use Southwest but they still aren't booking out past October! I will have to wait to be able to compare them.

Hoping to use Southwest but they still aren't booking out past October! I will have to wait to be able to compare them.

Remember one very important point. If you wait to do that comparison, you will be comparing the WN ticket price against the other airlines' price that is available ON THAT DAY. You will have lost any opportunity to purchase a ticket from another carrier at a price they offered prior to that point.

For example, XYZ airlines is offering a price of $300 for a ticket today. You decide to wait for WN. When those prices come out, WN is charging $400 and XYZ is charging $450. Ooooh....WN is cheaper. But not compared to what you could have bought the ticket for today.

Thus, waiting to see what WN will offer is, in effect, wagering that the price you'll see then is less than the price one could pay today. This is only a good wager if you have done diligent research to know what typical pricing is for your route AND you are willing to suffer the downside loss of higher pricing down the road.

WN makes a LOT of money from folks who have bought into the "Southwest is always cheaper" folklore and who forego the opportunity to buy from UA/AA/DL prior to the WN release.

Caveat emptor. Or perhaps "Well, do you feel lucky?"

OP: as cited by several other frequent flyers, lots of misinformation in the responses to your question. Odd that no one mentioned using ITA Matrix website for your price comparisons (more robust big brother of "google flights").

AND, like cruises, air travel is about much more than price alone.

Especially for international travel, look at lines that belong to large consortia (e.g., Star Alliance has United, Lufthansa, etc) and connect through large hub airports thus maximizing your flexibility to make changes for weather, mechanical, et al. Issues.

Bite the bullet on flights exceeding 6 hrs and fly bizclass. If you're a couple and need to fly economy, try to book "aisles across" for maximum space.

Get the "seat guru" app and have it handy when booking a flight to select problem free seats.

If you do fly 2+ times a year, do consider an airline affinity card like United Explorer Visa, which accrues FF points from any Star Alliance partner, while providing free checked bags, Club passes, priority boarding, etc. while also assuring that your specific airline points never expire as long as you use that airline's credit card.

Finally, select airlines that, despite your having purchased a non-refundable ticket, will issue ETC credit (for price drops) and allow ticket assignment to partner airlines when your tix' itinerary times are changed by the airline to an unfavorable schedule.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Bite the bullet on flights exceeding 6 hrs and fly bizclass.

I'm not always in agreement with this. Don't get me wrong, business and first class are wonderful, and I'm lucky enough to have enough miles that I can usually get free flights in business, but I do occasionally fly longhaul out-of-pocket, and I almost always do economy. The reason is simply - business class is expensive! When my company pays for it, great; when I pay for it, I keep thinking "is that 10 hours worth $2,000+ extra dollars, or can I do something substantially more enjoyable/memorably with that $2,000+ dollars?" And I almost always come back with the justification of spending it elsewhere. Heck, $4,000 (for two people) can get you a week in a very, very nice hotel...or it can get you 20 hours (for two people) in a decent business class seat.

I agree. The only time I’ve flown F or business class is when I’ve gotten a free upgrade or used miles. The high price is not worth it to me; I have better ways I prefer to spend my money,

How much extra are you prepared to pay in order to fly Southwest? If you wait, it could turn out that Southwest's lowest fares then are higher than the fares on other airlines that you can buy now. If that happens, it would have cost you money to wait for Southwest's bookings to open.

I completely agree but since they include luggage costs, I have found their rates to be comparable to others plus their charges for luggage. It is a hard call on what to do. We booked the cruise on the do it now while it's cheap premise and now can't change it without a penalty so we kinda jumped the gun on that as we are seeing other comparable cruises that we would've picked had we known the tickets would be so high. We were really thinking $300 pp at the most but they are at least $100 pp more than that so guess we will just have to spend the money. I like Southwest's "wanna get away" too cause they tend to be cheaper.

OP - highly recommend you depart on Feb 2nd. Prices on UA for these dates around $304 RT.

If you could leave from JFK, you can get nonstops on DL for $264.

We had thought about adjusting by a day but the discount isn't worth the extra cost of a hotel for a night. Right now, although we can't get exact dates yet, they are running about $400 a person including luggage. Was hoping for about $100 pp less than that but oh well. Just another added expense of this cruise!!

I’m not suggesting traveling the day before because of the price. You want to arrive the same date your cruise departs, and you’re traveling in the winter. Just keep in mind this plan entails some risk for weather delays.

We had thought about adjusting by a day but the discount isn't worth the extra cost of a hotel for a night. Right now, although we can't get exact dates yet, they are running about $400 a person including luggage. Was hoping for about $100 pp less than that but oh well. Just another added expense of this cruise!!

I assume you meant "can't get exact SOUTHWEST dates yet". Since you could easily get something on AA or DL right now.

OP: Don't be "penny wise and pound foolish."

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We had thought about adjusting by a day but the discount isn't worth the extra cost of a hotel for a night.

In some circumstances, waiting for Southwest might have had the value of some de-risking if there would be a non-stop from ROC to SJU. But a quick look at timetables suggests that this is unlikely; the closest that I could see on dip samples was the occasional one-stop flight. You can't be guaranteed getting one of those on the days that you need them. And with Southwest, I think that a one-stop flight can involve a change of aircraft at the stopping point anyway - ie no different from a connection that can go wrong.

Since cruises are obviously very time-specific, our flight has to be as well. Also, going Sunday to Sunday hurts us as of course it's cheaper to fly during the week. Does anyone have any pointers/advice on getting the best deal on our flights? We're finding that they are going to cost so much more than we thought but still hopeful that once all the airlines are booking that far out that we can find a reasonable price.

Check to see the price if you stay over one extra night after the cruise. A few times, we have found that the price of booking a hotel for one night, and taking a cheaper flight on Monday, was about the same as the price of flying home on Sunday. So, we didn't save money, but we had a less hectic disembarkation, and a less busy airport the next day. The same might be true at the beginning of your trip...leave a day earlier, with a cheaper price, and put the money toward a one night hotel stay.

In the scale of things, paying an extra $200 for flights is insignificant.

Sent from my XT1032 using Forums mobile app

Check to see the price if you stay over one extra night after the cruise. A few times, we have found that the price of booking a hotel for one night, and taking a cheaper flight on Monday, was about the same as the price of flying home on Sunday. So, we didn't save money, but we had a less hectic disembarkation, and a less busy airport the next day. The same might be true at the beginning of your trip...leave a day earlier, with a cheaper price, and put the money toward a one night hotel stay.

We have considered this as well but we really have to get back to work on Monday. Taking a full week off for this is not ideal for either of us so adding another day would have it's implications.

In the scale of things, paying an extra $200 for flights is insignificant.

 

Sent from my XT1032 using Forums mobile app

Yes, I agree if you aren't budgeting, but we agreed to go on this trip with friends of ours with the belief that it would be in a certain price range. We've already exceeded that by hundreds so just trying to stay within a range that we are comfortable with. Either way, for us this is the trip of a lifetime so I told DH not to worry we can't take the savings to the grave so we might as well live it up a little!! ;)

Subscribing. Having a hard time finding decent flights for both our end of summer cruise (when should be cheaper) and for March break next year from Toronto to FLL or MIA. One airline has opened up and it's $$_.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Forums mobile app

Subscribing. Having a hard time finding decent flights for both our end of summer cruise (when should be cheaper) and for March break next year from Toronto to FLL or MIA. One airline has opened up and it's $$_.

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Forums mobile app

The cheap fares for Europe are pretty much gone. Who has fares out for next March? Going at Spring Break is not going to be cheap.

Subscribing. Having a hard time finding decent flights for both our end of summer cruise (when should be cheaper) and for March break next year from Toronto to FLL or MIA. One airline has opened up and it's $$_.

Let's parse this. First off, what do you mean by "decent flights"? Is that desirable flight times, carriers or routings OR did you mean "decent pricing"? And what is "decent"? Next, the "should be cheaper" doesn't take into account that on most "cruise days", there is high demand for seats, especially at desirable times. Just because it isn't spring break doesn't mean there isn't strong demand on that weekend. How many thousands of people are getting off a ship and wanting to get home. Finally, the one airline has opened up and $$. For which cruise is this? What airline? Many airlines have not released March dates for 2019, so I'm curious. And then, what are you thinking is $$, for each of the cruises. What are you finding for pricing - sorry, but I can't mindread to guess what you think is $$.

In other words.....lots more info is needed to give informed opinions back to you.

Let's parse this. First off, what do you mean by "decent flights"? Is that desirable flight times, carriers or routings OR did you mean "decent pricing"? And what is "decent"? Next, the "should be cheaper" doesn't take into account that on most "cruise days", there is high demand for seats, especially at desirable times. Just because it isn't spring break doesn't mean there isn't strong demand on that weekend. How many thousands of people are getting off a ship and wanting to get home. Finally, the one airline has opened up and $$. For which cruise is this? What airline? Many airlines have not released March dates for 2019, so I'm curious. And then, what are you thinking is $$, for each of the cruises. What are you finding for pricing - sorry, but I can't mindread to guess what you think is $$.

 

In other words.....lots more info is needed to give informed opinions back to you.

Um ok...didn't expect to get attacked for just adding a comment and wanting to subscribe for any tips. Not sure why all the sarcasm?

I know that March break (I'm from Toronto Ontario) will be very expensive but guess I thought opening day would be a bit better. Airlines are getting close and Air Canada just got to our date the other day. For one way, it is $550 CAD for one way . For a family of 4, we're looking at over $4k to fly there and back. I know March break that just passed has been at that price the past couple months but thought it would be better at first release. Other airlines haven't opened up yet. For end of the summer, it's similar pricing to above for Toronto or Buffalo.

And I'm sure you knew what I meant, but was talking price in terms of decent. But to add to that, when flying, especially to catch a cruise, we want non-stop to avoid any isues with connections. We would look at the option of driving to another airport (Buffalo, Detroit), but only Detroit (which is further) has a savings that is worth it, and even then, when you account for extra hotel night, gas, food, etc. its not a huge savings.

Um ok...didn't expect to get attacked for just adding a comment and wanting to subscribe for any tips. Not sure why all the sarcasm?

This wasn't being "attacked". Perhaps you might want to view it as seeing that your post was long on emotion, short on facts and specifics. And for "tips", do your research and apply basic Econ 101 to the airline purchasing question.

For one way, it is $550 CAD for one way . For a family of 4, we're looking at over $4k to fly there and back.

Many folks come to this forum looking for "the secret", the "tips", the "magic website" when the absolute cheapest price will miraculously appear. As a number of learned papers on the science of yield management have stated, the only time when you conclusively know what the lowest price paid for a ticket on a flight is - happens when the door closes and the aircraft backs away from the gate. There is no way to game the system, to conclusively time your purchase, or to ensure you got "the best deal". You can only use your own experience and knowledge to determine what price you find worth the buying decision.

And I'm sure you knew what I meant, but was talking price in terms of decent. But to add to that, when flying, especially to catch a cruise, we want non-stop to avoid any isues with connections.

Perhaps I'm being naive, but i dont book a cruise that involves flights without looking at the flight costs first. If the cruise is over a year in advance I will look at flights for the current year, knowing that this will only be indicative of pricing for the same period in the future.

A cruise holiday involves various cost elements over and above the cruise itself (gratuities, drinks, flights) and I attempt to calculate these extras first, so as to work out my total expenditure, prior to booking the cruise.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Forums mobile app

Who has fares out for next March?

In any event, if you book when bookings first open, you will very often only see expensive fares displayed. Cheaper fares may only be filed (or the cheaper booking classes have inventory put into them) later in the booking cycle. "Book as soon as you can to get the lowest price" is as much of a myth as "Book on a Tuesday evening when the wind is in the northwest to get the lowest price".

The industry simply doesn't work like that, which is why the post that started this thread asking for "tricks" was completely missing the point: there aren't any.

Um ok...didn't expect to get attacked for just adding a comment and wanting to subscribe for any tips. Not sure why all the sarcasm?

Thanks Globaliser. Not sure about that airline but can take a look. Good point about opening day. We'l just have to watch and see when the other airlines open up and at one point, 'jump' on it and just book. Wish our summer flight was lower as that wouldn't be such a bad bite.

As for subscribing...i was on tapatalk and the subscribe doesn't work on it so needed to put a post if I want to keep this thread for any updates. Nothing wrong with wanting to read any comments on here. Not expecting, nor did i ever say, that I was expecting the magic or secret answer.