Airfare Game; Am I losing?

[findmewdw]

We are cruising the first week in October. I have been closely watching airfare from Indy or Louisville for the past 4 months. We could have bought at around 690 last month. I thought I'd stick it out for lower prices. I know I've read that about 4 months out is a good time to purchase. Now, the same flights are around 880. I'm scared they may continue to rise. . . . We have a family of four and this is such a major expense for us. I'd rather be using this money as fun money on our trip!!!

This game is killing me! Would you wait it out or purchase soon?

[kellymonster23]

I was in the same boat as you for awhile. I was only looking for one ticket though. I searched for flights from Indy/Louisville/Lexington/Cincinnati/Columbus and couldn't find anything that I thought was "affordable" (below $800). After searching here on cruise critic and getting many suggestions, I actually ended up booking my flight on Hawaiian Air from Phoenix to Honolulu for $218 each way!!! I then booked flights on Southwest for cheap to get to/from Phoenix. I'm flying into Phoenix the night before the Hawaiian Air flight. There are many inexpensive hotels very close to the Phoenix Sky Harbor airport that offer free shuttles to/from the airport.

 

Just a suggestion for you to look at. I looked at the Hawaiian Air website and they have some days at the end of September that the flight from PHX to HNL is $118!!! (unsure of the exact days you are looking for traveling).

 

The website for Hawaiian Air is http://www.hawaiianair.com

 

Good Luck!!!

[J&RLOVESTOCRUISE]

We will be flying out of Indy or Cincinnati in January.

 

From what the news has been saying is that flights are going to continue to rise through the summer months.

 

Now with that being said who knows what they will be like for Fall travel.

 

IMHO I would wait but no longer than 2 months before your departure.

 

I am going to wait a while and I'm hoping I can see them decline to the 600 range.

 

Good luck

[goehoe]

We bought in Feb. for a Sept Ha. cruise. The tickets have already increased about 300$ . With summer rates coming, and all the airline problems with the volcano grounding passengers, they are loosing funds quickly. More than likely they will increase fares to make up for some of this. I'd purchase now and not look back. Just be prepared for your connections to change between ticket purchase and time of flying out. Keep checking your purchased flight to be sure they haven't changed flights along with departing time and cities. They don't always contact you . Believe me I know, as I found mine changed this weekend and expect I more changes.

 

Check Tues. (after mid-night.) This is when a drop in price will occur if the prices drop.

 

Good luck.

[findmewdw]

I was in the same boat as you for awhile. I was only looking for one ticket though. I searched for flights from Indy/Louisville/Lexington/Cincinnati/Columbus and couldn't find anything that I thought was "affordable" (below $800). After searching here on cruise critic and getting many suggestions, I actually ended up booking my flight on Hawaiian Air from Phoenix to Honolulu for $218 each way!!! I then booked flights on Southwest for cheap to get to/from Phoenix. I'm flying into Phoenix the night before the Hawaiian Air flight. There are many inexpensive hotels very close to the Phoenix Sky Harbor airport that offer free shuttles to/from the airport.

 

Just a suggestion for you to look at. I looked at the Hawaiian Air website and they have some days at the end of September that the flight from PHX to HNL is $118!!! (unsure of the exact days you are looking for traveling).

 

The website for Hawaiian Air is www.hawaiianair.com

 

Good Luck!!!

 

Wow, I love your total!! We are looking for departure of Oct. 1st. (My daughter has a sports game the night before or we'd leave then. She's in hs and the coach is not going to be happy with us skipping a game for fall break already!) Yes, I have been looking at using Southwest/Hawaiin Air, too. The problem I'm having is with the times of the flights. I can't find flights that correlate with time in between for us to be safe to collect luggage, etc. I'll keep looking; I've been mainly looking at flying to Seattle. I want your total! Thanks for your information.

[vbmom87]

I would never use two different airlines on the same day for an itinerary that I booked independently. IF you are delayed with your first flight and miss the connecting flight, you have no recourse. I can't imagine what a last minute flight would cost you if you missed your second flight. Not sure if travel insurance would help you with this situation or not.

 

I think you are far enough out yet, to possibly see better prices. Just get on some fare alerts and keep watching prices. Sometimes they only go down for a few hours.

[cruzn single]

Since we fly from Phoenix every year to HNL, I can tell you that the Hawaiian departure time is ugly--for fitting it with other airlines. We have flown to Phoenix on Southwest and then spent the night in the airport because of the fact that the Hawaiian flight departs at 8:05!!!

 

This last January we stayed at a Comfort Inn in Tempe (we had driven to Phoenix) that had hotel shuttle for departure and return. Just stayed there the night before leaving and then the "morning" after arriving back into Phoenix at 11:59PM!

 

Good Luck, it is a nightmare to fly in and out of Phoenix on Hawaiian, but the arrival time into HNL and the departure time are great on the HNL end! So, it's a game of "pick your poison!"

[debshomespun]

When we flew home from our cruise ending in Honolulu, we flew from HNL to PHX on Hawaiian Air, then booked Delta for our flight home. DH brother lives in PHX, so we visited with them for the day. A nice little stopover added to our trip. Hawaiian Air has some excellent fares. Especially if you can fly during the week.

[cynt]

I played the wait game too and I'm still kicking myself that I didn't purchase airfare back in November/December for our June land based vacation. Prices were in the $650ish price range and I thought that was too high so I'll wait it out. Prices jumped to the $800's. They finally came back down to the $700ish price range last month. We booked at $747 RT DFW to HNL layover in LAX. One of my sisters waited until the next day and the price increased to $767. Price today $787 on AA.

 

I tried everything (fly a day early/late, switch carriers, drive to a different airport) to get the price down but peace of mind was important to me. So we stuck w/ AA and purchased the best deal for us.

 

My advice watch it every day for another month or so and then BOOK IT! If price creeps up BOOK IT ASAP!!

[BopRN]

We leave 1 month from today....and still don't have our flights!!!:eek: I have been watching them since last Sept. and they have remained high ...700 on up from major Ohio cities.. I am getting close to booking for $783 from Dayton...but going to watch for another day or so. Being that we prefer a larger plane with the option of only 2 seats together, that limits our choices as many larger planes available are already booked up. They have been booked for 7-8 months...so maybe by large tour groups?

 

I never dreamed we would be paying this much for airfare in May!! Our only consolation is we will be in Hawaii for 2 weeks...so it makes it a little less painful.

[chipmaster]

IMHO no one really knows, with the economy improving only the airlines know the detailed statistics of how many seats are open and how many should be. I'd like to believe that October is NOT peak time so there is always a small chance that there could still be lots of tickets available at the end of summer, of course if all the tickets are sold no amount of money will get you there :eek:

 

My personal rule of thumb is the same I have with stocks, once I decide its because the going price meets my value and within a range I purchase it. Aftewards never look back and never regret as I'm going on vacation :D

 

We are cruising the first week in October. I have been closely watching airfare from Indy or Louisville for the past 4 months. We could have bought at around 690 last month. I thought I'd stick it out for lower prices. I know I've read that about 4 months out is a good time to purchase. Now, the same flights are around 880. I'm scared they may continue to rise. . . . We have a family of four and this is such a major expense for us. I'd rather be using this money as fun money on our trip!!!

This game is killing me! Would you wait it out or purchase soon?

[Shelbyjane56]

We are cruising the first week in October. I have been closely watching airfare from Indy or Louisville for the past 4 months. We could have bought at around 690 last month. I thought I'd stick it out for lower prices. I know I've read that about 4 months out is a good time to purchase. Now, the same flights are around 880. I'm scared they may continue to rise. . . . We have a family of four and this is such a major expense for us. I'd rather be using this money as fun money on our trip!!!

This game is killing me! Would you wait it out or purchase soon?

 

We are in indiana and always fly out of fort wayne on delta pretty much wherever we go, we got tickets for San Diego for hubby and I always fly on his FF account. His ticket was last minute as my ff were also..but he paid 300.00 and that was 3 days before easter, we flew out on easter sunday to san diego....but next week with a little more notice he is flying out and that will be about 800.00 (we use ff for family which we get from all his business travel) The planes have been full with every flight he has taken, therefore, I would guess the rates are going to continue to rise or stay at the level they are at now..typically we go through cincinnati or atlanta with connections from there. We booked our cruise flight last fall as it will be our sons wedding and we were not going to take a chance on not being about to us ff miles. Try seeing what flights are around 2am in the morning, I know it sounds weird, but for some reason if prices do drop 2am seems to be the magic hour. Good luck!

[Bars7816]

We've been watching flights from Seattle to Miami in November for 7 months. But after hearing the latest news story last night about how all airlines are really raising the rates, I panicked and booked. Our problem is that there is only one flight we can take with our mileage plan on Alaska Air, so if that filled up or the price jumped too dramatically, we would be kicking ourselves for waiting. It really is just one big game! :(

[findmewdw]

Aloha!

Thanks for all of your replies. It is a huge game! I can't say that I'm enjoying it too much. I sure wish we would have bought it last month when it was cheaper, but I think I'm going to hold out for a few more weeks. I have not tried 2am yet. I'll try that a few times too. OR, Ithink I'll let my hubby do that. I'm searching Indy, L'ville, Memphis, Nashville, Ohio, etc. and they are all about the same. We'll be glad to drive for a good deal.

Yes, BobRN, we prefer the larger planes, too. That is one big reason that I didn't snag the 690 price last month. One leg was on a small plane with 24 seats:eek:

If anybody sees any cheap flights from this area or hear of any deals, please let me know. I have signed up for many alerts, but not any help yet. Thanks. I love this board!

[sceptic]

Just to give you more heartburn...

 

For fun I check the flights from Denver to Maui daily - every now and then a monstrously low fare pops up for a few hours, and then it's time to think. (Like last summer's $310 RT - with taxes, to kauai.)

 

I use the ITA software search engine, which if you google you come up with it. They do NOT sell airline tickets. they are just a search engine. You have to 'register' but I've used it for years and it's no big deal to register. They have a new beta version of their software (on the right side of the normal search page) that is spectacular...

 

So where am I heading with this?

 

Here's how weird air fares are. In the past three days air fares with all taxes and fees (that's how ITA shows them) have varied in June from $820 to $525. There is even variation between AM and PM of the same day!

 

What I've seen is you can save a bundle if: You pounce the minute you see low fares. ITA gives you all the air fare codes etc. to use when talking to the airlines. And you can save sometimes hundreds if you can arrive a few days early or stay a few days later. You save enough to pay for the time on Oahu, in fact.

 

And FYI, I looked at ITA just now and saw RT from Indianapolis to HNL in October from $646 to $815 with all taxes.

 

Good Luck!

[J&RLOVESTOCRUISE]

Just to give you more heartburn...

 

For fun I check the flights from Denver to Maui daily - every now and then a monstrously low fare pops up for a few hours, and then it's time to think. (Like last summer's $310 RT - with taxes, to kauai.)

 

I use the ITA software search engine, which if you google you come up with it. They do NOT sell airline tickets. they are just a search engine. You have to 'register' but I've used it for years and it's no big deal to register. They have a new beta version of their software (on the right side of the normal search page) that is spectacular...

 

So where am I heading with this?

 

Here's how weird air fares are. In the past three days air fares with all taxes and fees (that's how ITA shows them) have varied in June from $820 to $525. There is even variation between AM and PM of the same day!

 

What I've seen is you can save a bundle if: You pounce the minute you see low fares. ITA gives you all the air fare codes etc. to use when talking to the airlines. And you can save sometimes hundreds if you can arrive a few days early or stay a few days later. You save enough to pay for the time on Oahu, in fact.

 

And FYI, I looked at ITA just now and saw RT from Indianapolis to HNL in October from $646 to $815 with all taxes.

 

Good Luck!

 

 

Ok I will try it again can you please give me site to go on to access it? Thank you

[J&RLOVESTOCRUISE]

I found the site....Anyway I tried Indianapolis and Cincinnati to HNL and on my screen it still comes up 800-900 per person.

 

We are not leaving until Januaray so I think I still have time to keep looking.

 

Thank you

[sceptic]

If I was going in January I'd wait too. Try and figure out how many pre or post-cruise days you can afford to be there (work and all) and keep checking.

[J&RLOVESTOCRUISE]

If I was going in January I'd wait too. Try and figure out how many pre or post-cruise days you can afford to be there (work and all) and keep checking.

 

Thanks, I have all that worked out and have our hotel, car rental and even some of our tours booked and I need to get a few more tours booked yet for Maui and Kauai!

 

All we are really worried about is our flights but I still have time to find something.

[vbmom87]

Thanks, I have all that worked out and have our hotel, car rental and even some of our tours booked and I need to get a few more tours booked yet for Maui and Kauai!

 

All we are really worried about is our flights but I still have time to find something.

 

I think what sceptic was trying to point out was whether or not you can have flexiblity in your travel dates. If you can leave a day or two earlier or leave a day or two later, sometimes the airfare can be a much better deal.

[findmewdw]

I would never use two different airlines on the same day for an itinerary that I booked independently. IF you are delayed with your first flight and miss the connecting flight, you have no recourse. I can't imagine what a last minute flight would cost you if you missed your second flight. Not sure if travel insurance would help you with this situation or not.

 

I think you are far enough out yet, to possibly see better prices. Just get on some fare alerts and keep watching prices. Sometimes they only go down for a few hours.

 

Yes, this would be horrible. If I book through a third party booking site like trip advisor, expedia, etc., and the first leg of the flight is late and I miss the next flight which is a different airline, what would happen? I have been checking these sites out and they are cheaper with multiple airlines. But I'm a bit scared. One that I'm looking at has a 1 hour layover and then we would switch airlines for our last leg of the flight. What if it's late and I miss the last one? Anybody?

[vbmom87]

Yes, this would be horrible. If I book through a third party booking site like trip advisor, expedia, etc., and the first leg of the flight is late and I miss the next flight which is a different airline, what would happen? I have been checking these sites out and they are cheaper with multiple airlines. But I'm a bit scared. One that I'm looking at has a 1 hour layover and then we would switch airlines for our last leg of the flight. What if it's late and I miss the last one? Anybody?

 

You really need to contact the supplier you are interested in. Sometimes you will see multiple airline routings through Orbitz, Travelocity, etc. It is my belief (of course you need to verify) that if you missed the second leg of your journey, you would call Orbitz, Travelocity etc, and they would help you get onto another flight. Again, this is my assumption. Always verify direct. This is very different from someone just booking with two different airlines on their own. If you are late getting to the second plane, it is not their fault. They might be nice and let you on a later flight, but then again, they might not. The way airlines are today, you never know how accommodating they will be.