Big problem with travel

[gaby]

when we booked on continental for december, we got our airfare for $338 without taxes of course so it came to like $425 each (that's from newark to aruba). i just looked. our airfare is at $748 w/o taxes. I can't believe its almost doubled. we booked at the right fare.

[danadog56]

not so unusual....i start watching for tickets for november every year around february and the price fluctuates from around 350 with tx included up to 900....we usually get them at around 450-500 which is just about average. sometimes I get lucky and buy them when they are about 400, but thats when I dont listen to Dh...he always says...they'll go down just wait..and when I do I never get them as cheap as I could have.....

[gaby]

that's exactly what my husband says. "just wait, they'll go down". now i just book when i think its reasonable. he does that when we go to vegas. since i'm the expert on vegas, i just ignore him. lol....

[SueBlk]

Yes I agree! If you know all the in's and out's and have mad airline miles you may be able to find a great deal but, for the rest of us who work 2 jobs and have little or no time to search I believe it's best to book early. I booked our flights back in March and paid $464.00 with taxes from Boston to Aruba. The Flights now are well over $700.00. Don't get me wrong, if you have the time an energy there are bargains to be found but, to wait usually means the flights will be muchmore expensive.

I will definately book the end of winter again next year.

[gaby]

i have a friend who works at o'hare airport. he said around 10 to 12 weeks before flight is usually when the airlines start testing the waters on a flight. that's around the time you'll probably find the best price for the flights. so we always start looking about 3 months prior to when we want to go. and he's been right about that. sometimes we might pay one thing and a few weeks later its maybe 20 dollars different but that seems to be when it is the cheapest, 10 to 12 weeks prior. At least with continental, i can't say for other airlines. and definitely looking tuesday nite or wednesday mornings. its become a game with me and the airlines, lol....but i had just gone to vegas doing this way, I paid $238 and the guy next to me paid $568. i don't think the airline knows what their prices are. they just test the waters. i do know if you wait the last minute, it doesn't matter, you're paying top dollar.

[jdoll]

Originally Posted by gaby

i have a friend who works at o'hare airport. he said around 10 to 12 weeks before flight is usually when the airlines start testing the waters on a flight. that's around the time you'll probably find the best price for the flights. so we always start looking about 3 months prior to when we want to go. and he's been right about that. sometimes we might pay one thing and a few weeks later its maybe 20 dollars different but that seems to be when it is the cheapest, 10 to 12 weeks prior. At least with continental, i can't say for other airlines. and definitely looking tuesday nite or wednesday mornings. its become a game with me and the airlines, lol....but i had just gone to vegas doing this way, I paid $238 and the guy next to me paid $568. i don't think the airline knows what their prices are. they just test the waters. i do know if you wait the last minute, it doesn't matter, you're paying top dollar.

Granted I haven't done ORD-AUA since 2005, but in the 5 flight I did do out of Chicago the only issue with waiting was not getting the flight you wanted. AA had (maybe still has) a 6am flight connecting thru MIA that arrived early afternoon in AUA. The issue was that flight always sold out 1st since the other option did not arrive AUA until 7pm or something like that. From ORD we learned to take a OK price of $400-$450 and arrived in time to have dinner out that night.

Same kind of issue with our USAir non-stop from PHL now; the really great prices are connecting flight thru CLT but the non-stop always sells out first. The only year I waited for the best price possible I ended up paying $800 pp (ORD_AUA) for the 1st week of December. If it is $900 or less for 2 tickets now on a flight we want I just buy them now.

[Chadd]

Originally Posted by jdoll

Same kind of issue with our USAir non-stop from PHL now; the really great prices are connecting flight thru CLT but the non-stop always sells out first.

Most airlines will charge a premium for non-stop flights for a couple reasons. 1 - The reduction in time spent traveling has a monetary value to most people. 2 - Often little competition on the direct, non-stop flight. 3 - Passengers willing to connect out of a hub city are obviously willing to fly another carrier and the airline has to compete on price.

In the case of US/CLT, most of the passengers flying out of Charlotte are connecting passengers as well.

[gaby]

i noticed that continental is about $75 difference between direct and a flight with a stop. i don't think that's worth the savings. Especially since it makes the trip long. you leave at 9 in the morning and arrive in aruba the next morning at like 3 in the morning. now this is flying out of newark so i don't know if there's a significant savings out of other airports but definitely not worth the savings from newark. you basically get there the next day. it turns a 4 1/2 hour flight into 16 hours.

[danadog56]

Since we live outside of PIT and have no chance at a direct fight...at least on USAir,,I usually check other airlines first and as amazing at it sounds USAir is always cheaper than all the other airlines....there may be a 20-30 dollar difference in price and it may be to the other airlines, but since I try to stick with one for FF miles I will stay with US. I have however flown out of Newark when we got tickets on Delta for 390...but it was girls week out and a friend of mine lives close to the airport.
So I just start in March and watch for cheapest, listen to Joe instead of not listening to Joe and always end up in the 450-500 range....maybe next year I'll learn and book when I see it for 350...

[Snidely]

Just started looking for our March 2011 flights. We live in north central Wisconsin and normally connect to the United non-stop out of Ohare. Here's what I'm currently seeing as options: all options connect in Chicago to the United non-stop

drive to Chicago----ORD - AUA $880

drive to Green Bay GRB-ORD-AUA $1,000

drive to Minneapolis MSP-ORD-AUA $660

How can the flight from MSP be 25% lower???? no logic in airfares!