Airfares!!

[iancal]

We cannot speak to NA fares but we have certainly found international fares to be lower than expected.  We booked a transatlantic open jaw fare in early July for an early Sept departure, late October return.  That fare was $10 less than we paid we we checked in at the end of August...about six days away from our departure date.  Oh, and the fare was considerably higher when we first considered the booking in early May.    We have had similar experiences with transpacific flights.     

 

Higher fares could be down to the 737Max tragedy  that show little signs of ending.

Edited October 29, 2019 by iancal

[littysmom]

1 hour ago, iancal said:

We cannot speak to NA fares but we have certainly found international fares to be lower than expected.  We booked a transatlantic open jaw fare in early July for an early Sept departure, late October return.  That fare was $10 less than we paid we we checked in at the end of August...about six days away from our departure date.  Oh, and the fare was considerably higher when we first considered the booking in early May.    We have had similar experiences with transpacific flights.     

 

Higher fares could be down to the 737Max tragedy  that show little signs of ending.

I heard the same thing, that international rates are lower than usual. 

[TruckerDave]

On 10/28/2019 at 1:22 PM, littysmom said:

We've been doing fake bookings and that's what they are for the next 2 months.  It's to soon to book for ours in April.  We've gone every April and try to get a feel of what the current rates are, and they are double from last year .

I don't understand why it is "too soon" to book.  You are well within the 300 day window for AA,UA,DL.  

[TruckerDave]

it's the weekly "outrageous airfare" thread. 

[littysmom]

7 minutes ago, TruckerDave said:

I don't understand why it is "too soon" to book.  You are well within the 300 day window for AA,UA,DL.  

We want to wait until Southwest comes out with there fares to compare all of the major airlines . We aren't ready to book. We are doing mock bookings to get an idea of what to expect . Looking at excursions, hotels, ect. 

[soonernstlouis]

54 minutes ago, littysmom said:

We want to wait until Southwest comes out with there fares to compare all of the major airlines . We aren't ready to book. We are doing mock bookings to get an idea of what to expect . Looking at excursions, hotels, ect. 

Tomorrow (10/30) SWA will open flights thru June 6th.  I wouldn’t expect a good Wanna Get Away rate to last very long if you find one.

Edited October 30, 2019 by soonernstlouis

[littysmom]

Thanks!

[waterbug123]

On 10/28/2019 at 1:01 PM, littysmom said:

Hello!

Can anyone explain what's going on with airfares skyrocketing?

 

 

On 10/28/2019 at 1:38 PM, naxer said:

I just got our tickets for January (Detroit to LA), and they were surprisingly high, and going up.  I don't know what it is.

 

In case you haven't noticed, the economy is booming.  And that means demand is up.  You'll never outguess the airline's complicated pricing algorithms, just know that they are largely based on the laws of supply and demand.  So a booming economy means higher pricing in general.   And April can mean Easter/spring break, which further increases demand.

 

On 10/28/2019 at 4:16 PM, Keys2Heaven said:

Some sites have fare checkers or daily email notification for a flight you're interested in. And I heard once that the best time to book was Tuesday afternoon, believe it or not.

 

On 10/28/2019 at 8:43 PM, Keys2Heaven said:

I didn't say I believed it, only that I heard it, but here's a link that talks about buying on Tuesday. So, I wouldn't just blanketdly state that this an urban myth.

 

https://www.farecompare.com/travel-advice/tips-from-air-travel-insiders/

 

All the link really says is airline's release fare sales on Tuesday afternoons.  But understand that airline's don't put products on sale the same way a department store might put sweaters on sale.  They simply withhold and release the inventory of different fare buckets based on their algorithms.  So on Tuesday afternoon the prices available for some routes might be lower but some might be higher, depending on what's been happening to the supply and demand for each particular route and each particular fare class on each particular day of flying in the future.  An airline might advertise the ones that happen to be lower and phrase it to sound like a sale.  But you aren't going to find a blanket "sale" on all tickets on Tue afternoon. Any "sale" is likely to be limited to certain routes on certain days, and for certain fare classes.

 

11 hours ago, littysmom said:

We want to wait until Southwest comes out with there fares to compare all of the major airlines . We aren't ready to book. We are doing mock bookings to get an idea of what to expect . Looking at excursions, hotels, ect. 

 

And in waiting for Southwest, you may have passed up on a cheaper price offered a couple of months ago by one of the legacy airlines.

[CruiserBruce]

Well put,  @waterbug123!!

[FlyerTalker]

As Gardyloo put it once (or more times): 

 

"Anybody who believes they can out-think the airlines' revenue/yield management computer algorithms is, in my view, delusional."

[iancal]

You mean I do not have to get up at 3AM on Tuesday morning and I will not score the absolute lowest fare of anyone else on that flight or on other flights in the same time frame.  This is crushing!  Guess we will stay home.

 

Not.

 

Could not agree more.  What is entertaining to me is the claims that people make about how to score the best price...on flights and on cruises.  Set your price, hit the buy button when the price hits the screen.  End of.

Edited October 30, 2019 by iancal

[phillyguy31]

2 things

1 Waiting for SW fares is really risky at times, their fare may be cheaper at the moment but higher that if you bought from another major carrier earlier. I just priced out a trip I am taking and SW is $100.00 more than my purchase from AA. For some unknown reason people believe SW is always the cheapest.

2 Since it looks like you are from the Philly area try both Newark and Baltimore (BWI is a SW Hub). You might do better in one of those airports.

[littysmom]

3 minutes ago, phillyguy31 said:

2 things

1 Waiting for SW fares is really risky at times, their fare may be cheaper at the moment but higher that if you bought from another major carrier earlier. I just priced out a trip I am taking and SW is $100.00 more than my purchase from AA. For some unknown reason people believe SW is always the cheapest.

2 Since it looks like you are from the Philly area try both Newark and Baltimore (BWI is a SW Hub). You might do better in one of those airports.

Yes, we usually fly from BWI, unless  Dulles or Regan are cheaper.  Were lucky we have 3 to chose from.

[FlyerTalker]

57 minutes ago, phillyguy31 said:

For some unknown reason people believe SW is always the cheapest.

 

Not unknown.  For years, WN had advertised time and time again that they had the cheapest pricing.  And it stuck in people's minds.

 

Now, they don't have that pricing advantage, yet people still cling to the belief that they will get the lowest price by waiting for Southwest.

 

It's the airline equivalent of Godot.

[Tapi]

19 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

For years, WN had advertised time and time again that they had the cheapest pricing.  And it stuck in people's minds.

 

Now, they don't have that pricing advantage, yet people still cling to the belief that they will get the lowest price by waiting for Southwest.

True. I live in ATL which has a large Southwest presence. From here, they almost never have the lowest fares, and if they do, the flights may not be the most ideal.

ATL has also had an influx of other low

cost carriers in recent years (most notably Spirit, Frontier and Jetblue). Every time I ocheck, those do have consistently been offering lower fares. Even if you add luggage fees, they are still cheaper.

 

We flew to Orlando for $29 each way on Frontier not too long ago and we’ll be flying back from our cruise on Spirit for $59. The cheapest fare on Southwest was $125. We are also flying to San Juan for Christmas and the New Year. We purchased nonstop tickets on Delta for $590. Southwest wanted $930 and with a connection! 

Edited October 30, 2019 by Tapi

[scottbee]

On 10/28/2019 at 10:01 AM, littysmom said:

Hello!

Can anyone explain what's going on with airfares skyrocketing? We did some research,  and the current rates are outrageous.  We're sailing in April, so for right now we're hoping they come down. 

Thanks!

Lisa

 

Without knowing how your conclusion of "skyrocketing" is based, lacking information

• on which airline
• from which airport
• to which airport
• on which dates

it's impossible to answer your question

 

[waterbug123]

17 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Not unknown.  For years, WN had advertised time and time again that they had the cheapest pricing.  And it stuck in people's minds.

 

 

 

If I recall correctly, they got very lucky with a long-term fuel hedge or something, and that allowed them to undercut other airlines significantly for a number of years.  So folks got it in their heads that Southwest was always a lot cheaper.  That hedge ran out a few years ago, but people still have it in their head that Southwest is cheapest.  For me, they are typically within a few dollars of Delta, but Delta frequent flyer points (both redeemable points and status-earning points) are far more valuable to me because of their international route offerings so it's worth it to me to pay a little more to fly Delta over Southwest.  Plus Delta's connections are better for me based on location of my home airport and my most frequent destination.

[Tapi]

20 minutes ago, waterbug123 said:

For me, they are typically within a few dollars of Delta, but Delta frequent flyer points (both redeemable points and status-earning points) are far more valuable to me because of their international route offerings so it's worth it to me to pay a little more to fly Delta over Southwest.

I’ll gladly pay extra to fly Delta. Living in Atlanta means that I can travel to hundreds of places nonstop worldwide. When we did our Mediterranean cruise last November out of Civitavecchia/Rome, it was Delta or bust, even though we found several fares that were lower on other airlines but with connections and long layovers. 
 

But we’ve noticed that Delta many times does offer fares that beat competitors, even the low cost carriers. For our upcoming cruise we are flying back on Spirit, but we are flying there on Delta. Nobody could touch their fares on that specific date. 

[littysmom]

I try and factor in the free luggage which is around $25-40 per bag rt.

[Tapi]

5 minutes ago, littysmom said:

I try and factor in the free luggage which is around $25-40 per bag rt.

Did you check Southwest today? Your dates are now available.

[Kbud]

On 10/29/2019 at 5:42 AM, Tapi said:

Keep checking, even multiple times a day. Unless you’re flying during a very busy holiday, chances are that you’ll see considerable price fluctuations, specially if your cruise is still several months away. Get creative and check one way fares on multiple airlines, and expand your search to other nearby airports, etc  
 

When I started checking flights for our upcoming February 2020 cruise, round trip airfare from ATL-FLL was hovering around $350pp. But then one day I found $66pp on Delta for our flight down so I purchased that one way, and then a few weeks later I found $59pp on Spirit for the return so I purchased that. 
 

So we are flying round trip to FLL for $125pp. The masochist in me keeps checking fares just to see what they are doing and now the cheapest fare I’ve seen for days is $250pp, which is pretty average for this route, but I’m grateful that I pulled the trigger at the right moment. 

 

Same thing with hotels. I’ve been checking for weeks, and the only way to spend less than $250/night was by staying at a Rodeway Inn in the bad part of town. Last week it seems like there was some sort of break, and several hotel rates dropped considerably. I now have the Embassy Suites booked for $131/night.

 

So don’t give up. Keep checking. If it looks suspiciously high, don’t book just yet. But if it’s close to what you’re willing/able to pay, then go for it. Hope you find something soon. 

Tapi, that's a great deal!  We are going out of Miami in February 2020 and the airfares are still ridiculous.  We are trying to fly out of Augusta, GA.  Atlanta airfares are always a better deal but then if we drove to ATL we would have to pay crazy parking fees and my friends say the cost of the hotels defeat the purpose of driving there.  So I was wondering has anyone taken a rental car to their port and dropped it off and then rented it back to their place of origin?  Trying to see if that may be a cost effective way.  Yes, I read 90 days is the best time to start checking airfares and I would much rather fly!

[iancal]

We always price fares on both a one way and a return basis.  For NA flights, it is not unusual for us to have different carriers.  Indeed, more than once we have gone in to FLL or PBU, and out from MIA.  We typically rent a car and do so pre cruise travel so we are not concerned about using different airports/carriers.

[littysmom]

2 hours ago, Tapi said:

Did you check Southwest today? Your dates are now available.

Yes we did. We're going to wait till Tuesday and see what the fares are. 

Thanks!

[littysmom]

Just now, littysmom said:

Yes we did. We're going to wait till Tuesday and see what the fares are. 

Thanks!

We checked today, they are cheaper,  but they say Tuesdays are the best deals, so we'll see.

[FlyerTalker]

4 minutes ago, Kbud said:

Tapi, that's a great deal!  We are going out of Miami in February 2020 and the airfares are still ridiculous.  We are trying to fly out of Augusta, GA.  Atlanta airfares are always a better deal but then if we drove to ATL we would have to pay crazy parking fees and my friends say the cost of the hotels defeat the purpose of driving there.  So I was wondering has anyone taken a rental car to their port and dropped it off and then rented it back to their place of origin?  Trying to see if that may be a cost effective way.  Yes, I read 90 days is the best time to start checking airfares and I would much rather fly!

 

Just why do you say that they are "ridiculous" and "crazy"?  Perhaps they aren't what you want to pay, and thus the comments?

 

Also, the best time to start checking air pricing is the moment you even start to consider a trip by air.  The sooner you start, the better your feeling for how pricing is working on your route.  And if an excellent price appears for one day at 91 days before your flight and you only start at 90....well, oops.  You need to formulate a strategy (and "hope" is not a strategy) and be willing to pull the trigger when you find something you can live with.