Roller Coaster Airfare Prices!!!

[Annefran]

My daughter & I are booked on AOS for Easter next year. I have been checking airfares for about 2 months now. I check the airline sites and all the other Expedia, Orbitz, Bookingbuddy, Kayak sites too. I thought that prices would go down soon because of fuel costs going down. But today the prices went up almost a $100 per ticket! It's crazy!

 

Everyone I've chatted with here says to wait until about 60-90 days out but I'm a little nervous that prices will only get worse instead of better. I just don't know how long to wait before believing that is the best price.

 

We will be flying out of Newark, NJ and I've also looked at prices from Philly too but that is 1 1/2 hour drive, may not be worth the extra money to get to Philly.

 

Just wanted some opinions from CC members on how long they have waited until they booked their airfare. Can I book at a particular fare and if it goes down will the airline reduce our fares accordingly?

 

Thanks for your input everyone.

[Sue L]

I have gotten, credit when the price dropped on a flight, not a refund and the credit had to be booked within a year. It was for jetblue, not sure what airline you are looking at. I always book as soon as they become available because I a picky on my flights and times.

[Sunrunner3]

I've always booked the airfare within a couple of weeks of booking my cruise, but I should point out that the airport I fly out of doesn't have a whole lot of options for us. We usually have to get a flight to Toronto, Newark or New York then onto our destination!

 

We did luck out when we booked AOS for this past July, we got a good deal on it and we booked less than 70 days out from the cruise. We were talking to a guy on the ship who flew from FLL to San Juan and his flight was $100 less than ours and we flew from Canada. We did fly into Newark too!!!

[pmshirl]

I always book my air as early as possible. There are only so many economy seats available on each plane. I flew to San Juan in Aug 2006 from Phila, roundtrip, my airfare on US Air was 289.00 RT per person. I booked this air in Jan 2006. The week before we left I checked the airfare and the same flight was $584.00. I have never gotten a refund or credit for any flight when the rates went down ( and it has only ever gone down 1 time that I can remember). I have booked airfare for June 2007 from philly to Miami at a cost of $173.00 roundtrip. When I booked i took the last 3 seats at the economy rate. I checked the rate today for the same flight it is $329.00. No one can tell you when the best time to book is! All they can do is give you examples of their past experiences. It is like the stock markey, up/down and if you hit it at the right times you benefit! Good Luck and I wouldn't wait if it were me!

[emen822]

We flew to PR this year the day before Easter. I was worried about the flights being very expensive but we got a pretty good deal. We flew from JFK to PR on American Airlines for about $225 per person. I thought that was great since we paid more than that to fly to Florida the year before at the same time. (And will be doing the same again next year.) My advice would be to book soon. I booked my flight around June or July of last year and the prices nearly tripled by the time the cruise came around. Good luck.

[Taf]

It seems that booking flights at the right price is just a matter of luck.

We booked 6 months ago for Christmas flights to Miami - thinking that booking way in advance would get us the best deal. Flight total costs for my family of 4 are today 1000 dollars cheaper!!!. In hindsight, I should have waited - but for how long, and when do you finally decide?

At the time I was happy with the price, and I wanted the guarantee the flights so that I wouldn`t miss my cruise:o .

[Annefran]

Thanks all so much for your input. I also noticed that there's a price difference between our leaving Saturday vs. Sunday too. Not more than $50-$100 but a difference. I find it very interesting how these airlines just increase a price for no reason in a day or sometimes even an hour from viewing it :eek: .

 

Makes you wonder how they determine the prices at times?

[crusingdave]

I have received a credit back from American Airlines when the rates for a flight dropped. The credit was in the form of a voucher to use for an American Airlines ticket good for one year. Good luck - around Easter it is very tough getting flights - I suggest you check on the price for the cruise line airfare. It may be cheaper.

[catwoman2965]

I’m also on the AOS, but next May, flying in from Newark. I booked in July, right after booking the cruise, because it was 218 rt and I knew it wouldn’t go any lower - i think with taxes it ended up being about $248 or therabouts. I’m flying in the day before, and staying over, and also staying over one more night, and coming home that Monday after the cruise. I’m on Continental, and I know if you purchase at one price, and it later goes down, you can call and they WILL issue you a travel voucher in the amount of the difference, good for a year. That just happened to me when I changed another flight, and the agent initiated that, I never asked for it.

I’m not sure if it will go any lower, so you might want to just buy now, and then if it does go down, request a voucher for the difference. Because you’re traveling at Easter, it might be more….

[jeh4554]

I always book air with RCCL when I book the cruise. Then, I periodically check airfair prices for a lower rate. RCCL will let you cancel your air anytime before final payment. We are cruising for spring break at the end of March next year and I haven't seen a rate yet that is lower than what I am paying through RCCL. (We fly out of Columbus, OH and can rarely get good rates.) I also like the fact that RCCL promises to get you on the ship when they book your air and they arrange the transfers from the airport to the cruise port.

[Annefran]

Catwoman great advice thanks! I know that the following year we will be cruising again, so I can always use the voucher if the prices go lower. I guess I should just set a price in my head, when I see it get close just book it.

 

I am going to check on RCL's site to see how much they are charging for airfare in the mean time.

[shirleygr]

We like to fly JetBlue, but they don't release their schedules as early as the other airlines. I've pretty much had good luck booking with them until it came time to buy the air for our upcoming February cruise. JetBlue's prices were astronomical from the first day I checked. Of course, this being President's Day weekend, every other airline I checked was sky high as well since the cheaper seats were long gone. There was no way I could afford to fly 6 people for $600 pp. :eek: I ended up booking my air with RC. It was more expensive than I'm used to paying, but less than JetBlue for one way. And it does include transfers to and from the airport. If you can't find something reasonable, I suggest you check with RC. For us, it made the difference between taking the cruise or not.

BTW, the reason airfares change from day to day, even hour to hour, is because the airlines offer a limited number of seats at the lower prices and once those seats are gone, they are gone.

[pmshirl]

Ann:

Just wanted to mention if you do not book directly with the airlines, places such as priceline.com or cheaptickets.com etc Do Not Offer a Voucher if the price goes down. What you pay is your final price! Good Luck.! Another thing I'd like to add is yes, Rc will get you to your destination if you book your airfare through them and also include your tranfers. We cruised the AOS and booked our own air (4 of us) and payed our own taxi $19.00 to get to the pier. If I wanted tranfers (1way) from the ship back to the airport the cost was $13.00 each x 4 = $52.00. We chose to take the taxi back and the cost was $16.00 total. We normally do the air package through RC, but I find most of the times you can book it yourself much cheaper! Some of the Pax that had their air payed through RC on our trip (since our plane was delayed due to mechanical failure) they were in the same boat as us. The only difference was we would of had to pay our own airfare to get to the 1st port, and the Rc airfare Pax would of had free air to the next port. But we would of all lost the same amount of days if the flight didnt get us to the pier. Everything worked out fine, I did get to talk to some of the pax on the ship and one honeymoon couples didnt receive their luggage until friday(5th day of the cruise) but we had a Great Time on the cruise.

[Nurse Daybreak]

Just to let you know, in most of the NE that week is school vacation week. I would think the prices would only go up. Could be wrong but I know that many of the parents with school aged kids where I work have already made their travel plans for that week. Most heading south.

[Linda/Ohio]

I believe I have seen it mentioned previously on this board that airline prices drop on either Tuesday or Wednesday at midnight and then go back up toward the weekend. Last year some family members were flying to Orlando/Disney World. i couldn't make a decison when they did and they go flights for about $198 or so. When I was ready to make the decision-the price was double. I decided to wait it out and in about 10-12 days--the prices dropped to a more reasonable rate. Yes-I went to Disney.

 

I always book cruise about 10-12 weeks before going and airfare at that point or later. Never had a problem with price. Just have to be vigilant and check more than once per day.

[cb at sea]

You're trying to book way too soon!!!! Prices tend to be the lowest about 45-60 days out. Wait until Feb. next year to start checking prices! It's one thing to book the cruise early--you need to to get the room you want, but airline tickets are a different kettle of fish!

[wrp96]

Easter Sunday you will not find price breaks. If you wait too long you may not find available seats.

[Sleeepy]

Keep in mind, though, if you have your eye on a certain flight (say a non-stop for instance) and the number of those flights are limited, they will fill quicker. When I booked mine, 2/3 of the plane was full and it was the only non-stop (I hate flying connections if I don't have). When I first checked air fare a few months ago, it was about $400 per person. When I booked a few weeks ago, it was $321 per person, round trip, non-stop from DC to Puerto Rico. The next day, we went to book our friends - the fare was $281 per person!! You just can't predict it. You can play for a while, but . . . One last tip: my flights are on 2 different airlines. AA and USAir offered a non-stop only on one leg of a round trip ticket. When I priced out the one way on each airline, it was the same price.

[travellady]

We bought 1 way tickets in June, Seattle to Miami, Alaska Air for Dec 16 at 298.00 each. When we found out we could fly in a day earlier a couple of weeks ago, I decided to change them (50.00 fee to change each) only to find they had gone up 100.00 apiece. In other words, another 150.00 extra, or 750.00 total, for 5 tickets. And this was one way.

 

So, I checked Southwest, and was able to purchase tickets for 198.00 each. Not much more for new tickets than what the Alaska change would have cost. So, am saving the Alaska tickets for another trip since they'll apply it to anyplace they fly, during the next 12 months. For a 50.00 change fee of course. So, we'll need to plan another trip but that won't be hard.

[Annefran]

Wow lots of differing opinions which I truly appreciate. I know everyone has a different experience with booking their airfares (cruise vs. own) and that's exactly what I wanted to see. I can't help but go with my gutt which tells me to wait a little bit longer to book airfare. I agree with CB that I think it will go down when the airlines realize that no one is booking at the their high prices and will lower again.

 

I have set a goal of about 300-350 per person from Newark to San Juan for myself. But will continue to check out Philly, JFK and LaGuardia, although the limo fares from my home to those airports adds cost. Newark is only 40 minutes from my home and a cheaper limo fare.

 

Please continue to add your opinions, I enjoy reading all them which does help me out greatly with making my decisions.

 

Thanks to All CC members!

[catwoman2965]

AnneFran,

I found that for my cruise, say a month or so later, the airfare through RCCL was WAY more than what I could get on my own, so i didn't even bother, just checked out Continental, and got lucky.

 

I know what you mean about leaving from JFK or LGA, I live about 35 mins from Newark, but friends of my parents let me park at their house, which is about 15 mins away, and will sometimes even take me to the airport (which i don't like to ask them to do much, but they keep insisting....!)

 

Good luck on finding cheap airfare....

[tonypct]

Consider parking when flying. Long term parking is a lot more reasonable at JFK and Newark than at LGA. Your best bet at LGA is an off airport parking place like Avistar, which will still run you $14.95 per day (with a coupon) plus taxes and fuel surcharges. Last time I parked at Long Term at EWR i paid $12 per day and at JFK I paid $15 per day.

[Smurphy]

I booked our flights as soon as the fares became available (which was, I believe, 330 days in advance). The fare was $178 total per person non stop. Today the fare is $653 total per person! I am so glad I bought when I did! With nine of us flying, the savings is about $4200!!! Good luck with whatever you decide to do.:) :o

[Annefran]

I doubt I will try to get any flights out of NY because it's a couple hour drive from where we live. Our best bets for airports are Newark, Philly or even Atlantic City, which I would all take my car and park for the week.

 

I was curious as to how full the planes were that I was looking at for our flights and right now, none are close to half full. I think if I can just wait another month or so, I may get a better deal with prices. If the airlines want to fill their planes, they should cut prices. I could kick myself though for not booking in July when Continental was only 298 pp! Oh well, next time I'll be better prepared.

 

I'm hoping to get flights on Continental, then use my points to upgrade us to First Class. If not, will go with either American or US Air because they seem to have the best fares right now.

 

Thanks again all for your info and insight, it has been absolutely wonderful! Keep it coming ;)

[jcanino]

Easter Sunday you will not find price breaks. If you wait too long you may not find available seats.

 

I have to agree!

 

As for the prices being different on a Saturday versus a Sunday, for the most part it has to do with the availability of seats. As more seats sell, the higher the price goes.