Purchasing Air

[alwaysfrantic]

I am not one to wait till the last minute to buy tickets.....I get too scared to wait though I know the "experts" say buy at 6 weeks. Anyway I bought mine a few weeks ago from he east coast. The trip involves a RT and a 1 way. Each flight has increased substantially since I booked. I guess it will fluctuate over the year but if not, I did great. So just observing that if you see a price that sounds good, buy it...unless you are a gambler.

[MommaNeedsACruise]

How far out is your trip? I don’t like to gamble either, but our family of 4 will be going to Alaska in June 2017. With both flights being one way. I was hoping to get out of airfare for $2000. What do you think my chances are??? I have been checking prices since they have been available only has gone up a little.

[MommaNeedsACruise]

How far out is your trip? I don’t like to gamble either, but our family of 4 will be going to Alaska in June 2017. With both flights being one way. I was hoping to get out of airfare for $2000. What do you think my chances are??? I have been checking prices since they have been available only has gone up a little.

 

Sorry also from the east coast.

[PoohUnderstands]

Have flown alot with SW in the last 2 years. I have found that the lowest prices I got were at the 4 to 4 1/2 month out area, i.e., May 4th for a September 9th flight for the Denver-Seattle Route; then was 2/17 for a 4/7 flight to Fort Lauderdale. I get an idea of the "best" pricing for an upcoming trip way ahead of time if possible and then start looking at the 4 month time frame and go from there. This info. is just to give you some examples.

 

Pooh

[Italy52]

I have already booked our inbound flight into Vancouver for June 2017 as we wanted the earliest available flight. In a few days, I will be booking our outbound flight for the same reason --- earliest available flight.

[CruiserBruce]

How far out is your trip? I don’t like to gamble either, but our family of 4 will be going to Alaska in June 2017. With both flights being one way. I was hoping to get out of airfare for $2000. What do you think my chances are??? I have been checking prices since they have been available only has gone up a little.

 

Sorry also from the east coast.

 

Sorry, you need to give us more info than that. All airports involved. Best idea of dates involved. Otherwise we are just guessing your needs and plans.

 

And research on the Cruise Air board is far more relevant than here.

[Mitch2016]

I had been tracking several preferred flights on "Google Flights" as soon as airfare for our trip became available to purchase. We live in central Iowa so usually fly out of Des Moines or Minneapolis (if the price is cheaper there). We're flying into Vancouver and coming home from Anchorage early June 2017. Most flights were gradually creeping from $1400-$1800 for the two of us. I received a price alert from Google on a flight I was tracking out of Des Moines on United that had great connection times in Denver and Chicago and arrived and departed when we wanted. The price had dropped to $1093 for the 2 of us......I bought the tickets.

 

Just keep track and watch every day.....Good luck! :)

[azbeachbum2016]

You can also track prices on the hopper app.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[alwaysfrantic]

I got a fantasticly timed United flight for about $800 from a small regional airport in Virginia. One connection, Chicago, RT to Vancouver. After I got it it immediately jumped to over $1000. This is for next June.

 

I jumped because the price seemed okay and the timing was do good. United doesn't seem to come up in many of my searches, so I'd been looking at AA and Delta flights taking all day and with 4 legs each way. The United gets me into Vancouver in early afternoon for a few days of sight seeing and doesn't even leave prior to 7 am which isn't easy from a small airport.

 

Coming home leaves at 10:30 am, certainly civilized after years of deathly 5 am departures.

[MommaNeedsACruise]

Sorry, you need to give us more info than that. All airports involved. Best idea of dates involved. Otherwise we are just guessing your needs and plans.

 

And research on the Cruise Air board is far more relevant than here.

 

We live in Central PA. I look flights out of Pittsburgh and BWI. Plan to fly to Anchorage on 6/1/17 and home from Vancouver on 6/1617.

[IllinoisGirl1978]

My mom and I scored a great deal on Alaska Airlines for under 700 from Chicago to Anchorage to Fairbanks. We are doing a Land Journey before our cruise. Our flight back was booked through Air Canada but operated by United, for under 500...

[epixx]

We live in Central PA. I look flights out of Pittsburgh and BWI. Plan to fly to Anchorage on 6/1/17 and home from Vancouver on 6/1617.

 

How do you feel about $482 pp round trip out of PHL? Outbound on AA ($295 pp), return on AC ($187 pp).

[Italy52]

I got a fantasticly timed United flight for about $800 from a small regional airport in Virginia. One connection, Chicago, RT to Vancouver. After I got it it immediately jumped to over $1000. This is for next June.

 

I jumped because the price seemed okay and the timing was do good. United doesn't seem to come up in many of my searches, so I'd been looking at AA and Delta flights taking all day and with 4 legs each way. The United gets me into Vancouver in early afternoon for a few days of sight seeing and doesn't even leave prior to 7 am which isn't easy from a small airport.

 

Coming home leaves at 10:30 am, certainly civilized after years of deathly 5 am departures.

 

Your return flight leaves from what airport? Are you disembarking the ship and flying home the same day?

[MommaNeedsACruise]

How do you feel about $482 pp round trip out of PHL? Outbound on AA ($295 pp), return on AC ($187 pp).

 

I think I may love you EPIXX!!!!! I will check this flight with my DH this evening.

[MalRC]

How do you feel about $482 pp round trip out of PHL? Outbound on AA ($295 pp), return on AC ($187 pp).

 

I paid about $40 more PP than that for my Trip back in July and was the same, Alaska Airline out to ANC, AC(yvr) back to PHL. Both stopped in Seattle. I looked for 2 months and that was about $150 cheaper than any other combination I could come up with. The flight out of Vancouver was late in the day(8:30pm), in a do-over I would have secured a car and driven to Seattle and caught an earlier flight back to PHL.

 

If you do the Air Canada flight to Seattle then on to PHL, realize that the first leg is a commuter that runs back and forth between the 2 airports all day. For us our plane was delayed in the morning and they never could make up the 90 minute delay. If we hadn't had the 3 hour layover in Seattle we'd have missed the flight to PHL.

Edited August 17, 2016 by MalRC

[alwaysfrantic]

Your return flight leaves from what airport? Are you disembarking the ship and flying home the same day?

 

Vancouver the next morning. The only choice for day of was a red eye which we were not interested in doing.

[Italy52]

Vancouver the next morning. The only choice for day of was a red eye which we were not interested in doing.

 

Glad to hear your flight out is not disembarkation day as it would have been tight --Vancouver airport takes a bit for processing.

 

We always leave the following morning to avoid all the craziness at the airport. For us, our flight is usually the 6 AM flight --- but we don't mind.

[Budget Queen]

I fly at least monthly, and have a few more internal accesses than the average traveler. One extremely important factor to be aware of- especially those focused on those "perfectly timed flights". Booking early is a huge gamble- flights do have a good chance of being canceled, and times changing. It is just as important to keep track of these trends= after booking, since notifications aren't a given. BEFORE you call, know what is available for alternative booking.

[Mitch2016]

I fly at least monthly, and have a few more internal accesses than the average traveler. One extremely important factor to be aware of- especially those focused on those "perfectly timed flights". Booking early is a huge gamble- flights do have a good chance of being canceled, and times changing. It is just as important to keep track of these trends= after booking, since notifications aren't a given. BEFORE you call, know what is available for alternative booking.

 

Thanks Budget Queen! I am obsessive compulsive and have been checking our flights every couple days. So far so good....but I also know that if there is a change or cancellation, United still has several options for us to choose from. I know that United has lots of flights out of Des Moines to Denver and the same on our return from Chicago to Des Moines.....it's the jaunt from Denver to Vancouver and Anchorage to Chicago that I worry the most on....

[SuperCrewBear]

Something I always do, mostly out of curiosity, is check the difference between flying coach and first or business class. You'd be surprised how little it is sometimes - I fly first class fairly often this way. On my May Alaskan cruise the difference between the two, when you factor in baggage fees, was only about $160 flying from Dallas to Vancouver then back to Dallas from Seattle on Delta. That was a no brainer. There was an additional perk: coach bags have a weight limit of 50 pounds - 1st class is 70 pounds - first class passengers can check two 70 pound bags for free. (Delta - other airlines do things differently...but they are usually very similar) With all the stuff I bought back my bag was 68 pounds... I bought my tickets 7 months ahead. Occasionally I'll be offered a bump up to first class for $30 (American Airlines) at the gate when checking my bag. The check bag is going to be $25 anyway so for an extra $5, first class. Sweet.