Help me: It's been a while...best time to book airfare

[MentalVacation]

Ok, i haven't cruised since 2005 (I can't believe this! What the heck happened to me!?!?!? Oh right. 2 kids. Disney. And the economy. Ack!) Anyway....we are cruising WITH kids in February.

 

I'm looking at the Valor out of Miami, so flying into Ft. Lauderdale or Miami. But I am having a mini stroke over airfare. We've flown recently (to Disney, to Vegas, to other non-exciting locations) but I was floored at what airfare is going to run me for our trip. I was thinking about 1,000-ish, plus baggage fees if we don't go SW (and I hate SW, but it is an option here).

 

So, are you planners who buy way out? Or wait to the last minute? What websites are the best anymore? I've stuck with the airlines' own sites in recent history, but am looking to explore other options!

[Cruise Cat]

Ok, i haven't cruised since 2005 (I can't believe this! What the heck happened to me!?!?!? Oh right. 2 kids. Disney. And the economy. Ack!) Anyway....we are cruising WITH kids in February.

 

I'm looking at the Valor out of Miami, so flying into Ft. Lauderdale or Miami. But I am having a mini stroke over airfare. We've flown recently (to Disney, to Vegas, to other non-exciting locations) but I was floored at what airfare is going to run me for our trip. I was thinking about 1,000-ish, plus baggage fees if we don't go SW (and I hate SW, but it is an option here).

 

So, are you planners who buy way out? Or wait to the last minute? What websites are the best anymore? I've stuck with the airlines' own sites in recent history, but am looking to explore other options!

 

Tuesdays or Wednesdays! Fares go up on the weekends (when everyone is looking) and down during the week. Others may disagree, but that has been my experience.

[DEBnGAB]

Tuesdays or Wednesdays! Fares go up on the weekends (when everyone is looking) and down during the week. Others may disagree, but that has been my experience.

 

I get a ton of airline sale fare emails on Tuesdays..so Id agree.

[MentalVacation]

I will make a mental note to try midweek. Good idea! Wish I had a private jet! ;)

 

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[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

If you see a price that you feel is reasonable. Book it.

[MikeM]

Tuesday @ 3 pm

[carsastic]

I have alway booked tues and wed

Also it seems the best fares are 7 weeks before

I would go to a travel site and set up a fare watcher and get ready to pounce

I have got great deals the last 4 months

[SIENA6334]

I have also found Tues and Wed best. Yesterday I checked Air Tran from Col. Ohio to FLL on Feb. 24 - 1 way- nonstop- and it was $133 + tax. This morning I checked early and got the same flight for $97. Just be diligent and check often.:o

[MustSailNOW]

I booked with Southwest back in June for our Valor cruise in October. Our fare was $80 each way (booked on a Tuesday).

 

I know you said you don't like Southwest, but keep in mind that if you book with them and a lower rate comes along, you will get the credit and will have a year to use it. Might come in handy for another trip that pops up.

 

The farewatcher sites are good as well. They email you about every few days about airfare prices. I believe Bing also has a predictor. It'll tell you if you should wait or buy your tickets. I'm not sure if it's accurate though.

[ehough]

We're flying a similar itinerary in December so maybe this will help. We got our flight down (albeit into Orlando, doing a day in Disney) for $117 on Southwest. I noticed the price drop on a Monday and we bought it Tuesday; it went back up a couple days later and hasn't gone down since! We bought that 6 months in advance.

 

Last week SW fares were just climbing and climbing. I used Expedia just to get a quick comparison of what flights were going for on other airlines and eventually booked with United for $142 each (FLL to O'Hare). And that's at 4 months out.

 

So we paid a total of $259 a person round trip- at 6 and 4 months away- and I'm pretty happy with that. Neither flight has gone down since we purchased it so I'm feeling pretty good. All that to say, book as soon as you find a price you're comfortable with!

[tiyana4]

As we have found, early booking does not always guarantee the best price but it does guarantee you a ticket on that flight. If rates go up you are locked in.

 

We prefer non-stop flights so for our late August cruise we booked as soon as booking dates opened. Since that time, prices have fallen 3 times. We had enough credit to book a OW flight for 2 pp up north for a trip this fall. Don't discount SW - no baggage or change fees and their boarding process has greatly improved. Just check the rates and check them often.

[serene56]

if you are looking at February-- you are looking at some prime time weeks.

Presidents week will cost you some $4.

 

February 5th is also high.

 

(we are cruising in January and the airfare to Tampa is over 300 pp.

 

(we flew to Orlando last August and paid less then 200.

 

So what people paid last year-- add a few hundred for next year.

 

 

Use a site like Yapta.com to track your flights you are interested in.

they will keep you posted if the fare went higher or lower.

 

Booking with other sites-- i dont find it that much of a difference with price-

if the price comes down I do not want to deal with a third party.

 

Same with if the flight changes and they move my seats and it becomes undesirable-- sorry i want to deal direct.

 

I can also tell you in the past few years every flight I had always seems to make changes one way or another.

[cwiggy]

Booking early is key to me. The longer you wait to book, the higher the prices go up. I agree with the Tuesday comment. We have booked 3 tickets for $290 pp during the busy March Break travel period and am thrilled with that price!! Mind you, had to book it as one way travel for each leg to get good prices and there was quite a gap of time between getting both legs booked while I waited for a good return price. Just a reminder that if you book on a non-airline website (exped, travoc), to ensure that you use the airline confirmation number they send you and go onto the airline website and choose your seats -- even if you chose them upon booking -- because it doesn't always transfer over. During busy travel times, the airlines will give any available seats to direct reservation guests prior to someone who booked on a travel website. Enjoy your cruise!!

[JaniceB]

Just had a fare drop on JetBlue today-don't know what city you are flying from.

[tcw92]

Ok, i haven't cruised since 2005 (I can't believe this! What the heck happened to me!?!?!? Oh right. 2 kids. Disney. And the economy. Ack!) Anyway....we are cruising WITH kids in February.

 

I'm looking at the Valor out of Miami, so flying into Ft. Lauderdale or Miami. But I am having a mini stroke over airfare. We've flown recently (to Disney, to Vegas, to other non-exciting locations) but I was floored at what airfare is going to run me for our trip. I was thinking about 1,000-ish, plus baggage fees if we don't go SW (and I hate SW, but it is an option here).

 

So, are you planners who buy way out? Or wait to the last minute? What websites are the best anymore? I've stuck with the airlines' own sites in recent history, but am looking to explore other options!

we cruise on Sept 5th and i just booked our flights 2 weeks ago. I was waiting to see if the cost would go down. My husband & I flew exactally 1 year ago to the day and we flew for $409 total. I was floored when i saw it was going to cost us anywhere from $1200-$1500 for 4 of us. I finally got them for $1,085 thru American Airlines. I think if you book and the cost goes down you can file for a credit on a future flight. I know that doesn't help right now. Another problem with waiting to book is that you may not get to sit together or you will be at the back of the plane.

[Redsfan]

Jus, wt had a fare drop on JetBlue today-don't know what city you are flying from.

yes they did drop...last night Buf to FLL was listed at $148. This morning we checked and got it for $109 which was about $650 for 5 of us from the Toronto area. We booked our return out of Tampa to BUF for $99!

 

All told $1150 from Buffalo, not bad!!

[luvtovaca]

I know you said you don't like Southwest, but keep in mind that if you book with them and a lower rate comes along, you will get the credit and will have a year to use it. Might come in handy for another trip that pops up.

 

This is soooo true! We took a family cruise in April 2009 and had booked the air on SW the November before. The fare dropped so much that we had a credit large enough for DH and I to fly with it "free" and take ourselves on another cruise the following October!

 

However, be warned, SW has changed the policy in that you can only use the credit for the person whose name it was booked in. In our case, we did it when you were able to use the credit for anyone. In fact, even after we booked our second trip, we had some credit left over and MIL used that.

 

We love SW. No bag fees, credit if you change/cancel and they move you right along in line, onto the plane and off you go!

[kayakittyyak]

It depends on where you're coming from and the dates. I recently found a terrrific airfair for $147 RT including taxes (of which I may get some back)from Tampa to St. Louis for Dec. 24 - Dec. 31 (Delta), this was on a Tues night and was gone Weds. morning. Found some other good rates this morning on other dates. Just keep checking and look at all of the airlines that fly out of your airport.

[ZooTycoon223]

Airfare is ridiculous. We went yesterday to talk to our travel agent about going on a cruise next April, and to fly down the Thursday before would be 800ish per person at the least, but flying to the same location in July would be 200ish.

Needless to say we decided on July.

[MentalVacation]

thanks for all the input! I am in the midwest. Omaha and Sioux Falls are likely options. Sioux City is the ideal, but it is really too expensive. :( But none are huge airports, and we don't have Jet Blue here. I wish! :)

 

I should be less harsh about Southwest -- I don't hate them. i just don't like the cattle call seating. Even with the improvements. I am totally OCD and I'd rather just have an assigned seat. I don't care where. Especially with kids. I want to be confident we are seated in the same row as we share carryons, etc......and I just want to know ahead of time. So, SWA is not off the table, just not my preference.

 

We flew Allegient in May and I paid the extra for the assigned seats. Loved Allegient, by the way.

 

Right now I'm looking at about 350/pp for Omaha or Sioux Falls into either Miami or Ft.Lauderdale. Over 500/pp for Sioux City. That is as much as our cruise fare, or close to it! We paid about 250/pp to Orlando in 2009, and I am realllllllly hoping to keep it at that range -- or at least under 300 for a reasonably direct flight.....we'll see! :)

[ccletzgo]

thanks for all the input! I am in the midwest. Omaha and Sioux Falls are likely options. Sioux City is the ideal, but it is really too expensive. :( But none are huge airports, and we don't have Jet Blue here. I wish! :)

 

I should be less harsh about Southwest -- I don't hate them. i just don't like the cattle call seating. Even with the improvements. I am totally OCD and I'd rather just have an assigned seat. I don't care where. Especially with kids. I want to be confident we are seated in the same row as we share carryons, etc......and I just want to know ahead of time. So, SWA is not off the table, just not my preference.

 

We flew Allegient in May and I paid the extra for the assigned seats. Loved Allegient, by the way.

 

Right now I'm looking at about 350/pp for Omaha or Sioux Falls into either Miami or Ft.Lauderdale. Over 500/pp for Sioux City. That is as much as our cruise fare, or close to it! We paid about 250/pp to Orlando in 2009, and I am realllllllly hoping to keep it at that range -- or at least under 300 for a reasonably direct flight.....we'll see! :)

 

Allegiant is an AWESOME airline! Agree! :D I have always said purchasing airfare is like buying stock. Good luck!

[gmros]

I agree with others about checking fares on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I have the same experience.

 

Booking too early does not necessarily give you the best price. I usually book 2-3 months early. You may get cheaper fares a lot closer to departure, but you might not want to chance it.

 

I like to use Kayak. I think it has the best search tool where you can enter numerous parameters. It does search the Allegiant site, and Southwest too if you change your mind. I like that after entering the airports, a calendar appears on the right showing the best fares found by other Kayak users for the past 2 days. This will at least give you an idea if the airfare you're getting is a good price. Kayak also has a great farewatcher.

 

I usually search with flexible dates first (Kayak has good flexible date options). If a fare for a different date is significantly lower than my cruise dates, I go to a travel site that offers vacation (flight+hotel) deals using the dates of the lower fare I found on Kayak.

 

Good luck!

[JaniceB]

yes they did drop...last night Buf to FLL was listed at $148. This morning we checked and got it for $109 which was about $650 for 5 of us from the Toronto area. We booked our return out of Tampa to BUF for $99!

 

All told $1150 from Buffalo, not bad!!

 

That's awesome, now if I could just find a good fare on a flight for our Alaska cruise.

[Durangler]

Looks like Tuesday for Southwest.

Did a mock round trip booking last evening (Tuesday).

Outbound was $99 & Return was $189

This morning, same mock trip, Outbound $213 & Return $213.

BIG difference! Good to know!

[smitty89]

I am pretty sure that Southwest still offers the "priority" seating. From what I understood (and keep in mind that we flew SW about a year ago so the info might have changed and we have personally never done this), you can purchase the priority seating for one of your tickets and then save seats for the rest of your group. There is some debate on whether this is technically allowed, but as of last year, it was. This might be a way for you to spend a little extra on one ticket, but still save money overall... Might be something to check out on the Airfare boards here though?