Bad Timing Again!!

[CALMOM]

I'm cruising in Alaska in July and feared that oil prices were going to go up based on what I was hearing on the news, so I went ahead and purchased my non-refundable airline tickets (6) , 3 weeks ago. I just checked and found they have a special and I could of saved $100/pp.

 

Oh well, I guess it could of went the other direction just as well. It is always a guessing game. I just thought since it was summer time, a peak time for Alaska, the fares would only go up.

 

Good news, if you haven't bought you airline tickets for your Alaska cruise, check Alaska Air, great deals right now. Hope somebody benefits from it, it will make me feel a little better.

[frugaltravel]

As always, only buy airline tickets when you feel the price is "fair." Then if the price goes down, you can remind yourself that you got a fair price. If the price goes up, you are even happier. Kind of like when buying stocks, cuz you won't know what the "low" is until after the "low" is no longer available.

[CALMOM]

As always, only buy airline tickets when you feel the price is "fair." Then if the price goes down, you can remind yourself that you got a fair price. If the price goes up, you are even happier. Kind of like when buying stocks, cuz you won't know what the "low" is until after the "low" is no longer available.

 

I guess I was more concerned with having non-stop flight then discount and was concerned I might not be able to get 6 seats on same flight since it was peak season. I guess, you have to choose your priorities, price, type of flight, time or convenience. I prefer non-stop flight especially going to prevent lost luggage which has happened to me twice for a cruise.

[CruisingGoddess]

I guess I was more concerned with having non-stop flight then discount and was concerned I might not be able to get 6 seats on same flight since it was peak season. I guess, you have to choose your priorities, price, type of flight, time or convenience. I prefer non-stop flight especially going to prevent lost luggage which has happened to me twice for a cruise.

 

I also fly non-stop whenever possible. This usually limits my options to 2-3 flights and one airline but I agree that it is worth it. In the last 3 times where I flew with a stop, one of my bags got lost twice. :eek: I was fortunate that both times the airline eventually located my bag and it was delivered to me by the next day but it's such a headache and that feeling you get when you haven't seen your bag at the baggage claim and it's not spitting out anymore bags is horrible.

 

Non-stop may cost more but it's worth it in the time and hassle you save.

[sparky-elpaso]

We bought our tickets on AA (El Paso to Ft. Lauderdale) at the beginning of January - $756 for 2. I've been tracking prices since then just for the fun of it and so far that's the lowest - and it was at that price for 1 day.:D So far the highest has been $1,478 - so I'm VERY pleased.

[Junonia]

Depending on the airline, it is possible that they will put credit on account for you for the difference to be used on a future flight. I know Southwest does that. Never hurts to ask.

[milford_cruiser]

I'm cruising in Alaska in July and feared that oil prices were going to go up based on what I was hearing on the news, so I went ahead and purchased my non-refundable airline tickets (6) , 3 weeks ago. I just checked and found they have a special and I could of saved $100/pp.

 

Well, that'll learn you! Isn't that why you're supposed to stop looking once you put the money down?

 

I'm a glutton for punishment myself. I keep checking the prices, but so far have been pleasantly surprised at how much more we could have paid if we waited...

 

But I agree with Junonia. You should call and see what they'll do. Sometimes "non-refundable" just means you'll pay a change fee. If that's less than the $100 per ticket, you're still ahead...

[LA_FadeAway]

Oh man, I had to check after reading this post and just saw that our flight went down a bit too. We even booked one with a change of planes because it was quite a bit cheaper than the non-stop. Of course, now the non-stop is cheaper than the one we booked. Ugh!

[tiggerman101]

I about drove myself crazy looking at the prices for our Alaska Cruise flights in May. I finally told myself it wasn't worth all the time I was devoting to it, bought the tickets and have never checked again. I feel the price I paid was a completely fair price just to get it over and done with.

[CALMOM]

Well, that'll learn you! Isn't that why you're supposed to stop looking once you put the money down?

 

I'm a glutton for punishment myself. I keep checking the prices, but so far have been pleasantly surprised at how much more we could have paid if we waited...

 

But I agree with Junonia. You should call and see what they'll do. Sometimes "non-refundable" just means you'll pay a change fee. If that's less than the $100 per ticket, you're still ahead...

 

I know, I know, I just wanted to see if I could brag that I bought the tickets at the right time. I will call and see what they say. I guess all they can say is "too bad, so sad":(

[NorbertsNiece]

Ok so I was curious.

Went online to check my Alaska Air to Fairbanks to see the flight schedule has changed. Price is the same as when I booked. When I go online into the reservation there's a note in red that I have to call them on an 800 number which doesn't work as a free call from the UK. What is the point of them having an email address if they don't use it? Ho hum.

[milford_cruiser]

Ok so I was curious.

 

Went online to check my Alaska Air to Fairbanks to see the flight schedule has changed. Price is the same as when I booked. When I go online into the reservation there's a note in red that I have to call them on an 800 number which doesn't work as a free call from the UK. What is the point of them having an email address if they don't use it? Ho hum.

 

Guess it's not just me...

 

I had the same problem when I went back into my reservation a couple of weeks after I made it - saw the big red "Call us now" message and thought "since you have my e-mail and telephone number, shouldn't YOU call ME if there's a problem?"

 

In my case, one leg of the trip is cross-booked (code-shared?) on American Airlines and AA had changed flight number and time. Even though AA is supposed to be partners with Alaska Air, they couldn't work it out among themselves. Siblings, you know...

 

So after my "what's up with my tickets?" phone call, I now have:

1) a separate confirmation code for the AA leg

2) the same original code for the rest of the trip

and

3) a paranoid need to recheck my reservation about once a month.

[NorbertsNiece]

Guess it's not just me...

 

I had the same problem when I went back into my reservation a couple of weeks after I made it - saw the big red "Call us now" message and thought "since you have my e-mail and telephone number, shouldn't YOU call ME if there's a problem?"

 

In my case, one leg of the trip is cross-booked (code-shared?) on American Airlines and AA had changed flight number and time. Even though AA is supposed to be partners with Alaska Air, they couldn't work it out among themselves. Siblings, you know...

 

So after my "what's up with my tickets?" phone call, I now have:

1) a separate confirmation code for the AA leg

2) the same original code for the rest of the trip

and

3) a paranoid need to recheck my reservation about once a month.

 

 

I do hope you'll post a review of your trip as we'll be following you shortly after..... Southbound.... apologies if I've already asked you this.

I have a cell phone service that provides me with local call charges to the US. So I ring AA (I'm at work) and told I have a 15 minute wait. I give up. Wait a while and ring again. I have a 0 minute wait. No-one picks up after 4 minutes so I give up again. Will call the free call UK number I found on the website when I get home tonight. We have a direct flight and they've put it off by around 35 mins.

[alpal1993]

My flights R/T FLL to SEA have been changed 4 times until this last time when I would arrive 2 hours after our ship already left.A Good T/A is so important she was able to get Delta to change our flights for Sunday without charge.The prices have gone up so much since we booked in August that they kept trying to put us on less traveled routes and times.We still have 4 months to go so I pray no more changes

[AkSusan]

Ok so I was curious.

 

Went online to check my Alaska Air to Fairbanks to see the flight schedule has changed. Price is the same as when I booked. When I go online into the reservation there's a note in red that I have to call them on an 800 number which doesn't work as a free call from the UK. What is the point of them having an email address if they don't use it? Ho hum.

No they do not call. Getting the dreaded red message is how you know they've changed your flight information.

 

I'm going to Scotland in May (booked in November) and between Alaska and British Air I've had 3 changes already and the last one was like only 2 weeks apart. So far my record for one trip (which was just on Alaska) was 6 changes.

 

I know lots of airlines are working on their summer schedules and even tweaking it by a couple of minutes, you'll get the red message at Alaska.

 

Susan in Anchorage :)

[NorbertsNiece]

No they do not call. Getting the dreaded red message is how you know they've changed your flight information.

 

I'm going to Scotland in May (booked in November) and between Alaska and British Air I've had 3 changes already and the last one was like only 2 weeks apart. So far my record for one trip (which was just on Alaska) was 6 changes.

 

I know lots of airlines are working on their summer schedules and even tweaking it by a couple of minutes, you'll get the red message at Alaska.

 

Susan in Anchorage :)

 

Bring your wet weather gear for Scotland in May !

Got through to AA at the 3rd try. Schedule changed all ok. Received confirmation email and now like milford_cruiser I shall start checking the site regularly for any further changes..... sigh.

[AkSusan]

Bring your wet weather gear for Scotland in May !

 

Got through to AA at the 3rd try. Schedule changed all ok. Received confirmation email and now like milford_cruiser I shall start checking the site regularly for any further changes..... sigh.

Well wet weather gear won't be a problem for me. Have quite an extensive collection in my closet as you never know how our spring/summer is going to be here. Cold and rainy, warm and rainy and the list just goes on :eek:

 

Went and checked my two current trips with AS and fortunately neither of them gave me the dreaded red messages. So safe for now!

 

Susan in Anchorage :)

[CALMOM]

I just called Alaska Air and told them that my airfare was $100/pp cheaper then when I purchased them 3 weeks ago. They would not refund me the difference but they did give me a $100/pp voucher for all 6 of us, so I'm good with that. I wish it would of been a cash refund but it's better then them saying "Too Bad, So Sad".

 

I wonder if the vouchers are in each person's name or if they just send me a $600 voucher. Does anyone have experience with this?

[LA_FadeAway]

We received $300 vouchers from them for volunteering our seats last year. They gave us a code to punch into our accounts on-line and then the credit showed up in our on-line "wallet". It then asked if we wanted to apply the vouchers when we bought our recent tickets. I'm guessing they will send you a code or do something similar. Ours were in each of our names. Hmmm, it's tempting to call them about our price drop now too...

[LA_FadeAway]

Well, I finally got around to calling Alaska Air today to see if there was anything they could do about our flight price going down. Sure enough, she offered to either change us to the non-stop we originally wanted and would see if her manager could waive the change fees (but we would not get any $ back on the price difference) or we could keep the flights we booked and get credit vouchers for the difference in price. We opted for the credit vouchers. She said they are allowed to do that if the price goes down and it has been less than 3 months since you booked the flight. Amazing! I can't imagine any other airlines doing being so generous!