Flights question

There are so many factors - some predictable but most unpredictable - that go into an airline ticket that it is difficult to forecast. Airlines have been trying to drive up prices over the past couple of year. Everything I am reading suggest that they may be finally having some success. Capacity is down, number of flights are down, oil is again on the raise, and demand maybe increasing. Not good indicates for cheap fares. If I was traveling next summer I would watch things till at least January and maybe February.

I paid $1000 for my trip from Lousiana to Netherlands for this September. I had priced out June/July for this year and it was 1500 and it never went down. Then again Louisana isn't as big as LAX.

Jodee, LAX may be bigger, but it's also on the west coast and I don't think it's likely to be any cheaper.

Agree with Frank. Wait! I usually set up an auto notice on different web sites (Orbitz, Kayak) with a price that I think is fair, and wait until I receive a message saying that price is available. "Usually" the best price pops up two to three months prior to the trip. Also check out Milan, Paris, London, etc. Sometimes when you can't find a good price, you can find an excellent deal by flying "open jaw" (into one EU city, and out of another.) And sign up with, and watch, the airlines that have direct flights from the cities that you may fly out of.

Like Steve, I watch for awhile to get a feel for what's happening. I set up automatic notices for fare searches and price changes. I don't jump until I make the judgment that it's the best deal I'm going to get......................................... Even if the prices are high, there are always destinations that will be a little cheaper or a day of the week that will get you a better price. It all depends on what the airline has available to sell. The more vacant seats, the lower the price will get.

Hi Susan and Monte, Before our trip in June of this year, I've always bought tickets about 9 mos ahead paying around $1200-$1300 from SFO. This year I waited based on the adamant advice of "Steve" (who used to post a lot here but was banned) but the price just kept going up and up... Not down... Two months before our trip I finally had to go ahead and buy tickets at $1800 per ticket...The "good deals" often mean very long routes, with lots of stops, flying to a city you may not have wanted to go to, and sometimes not being able to sit with your travel partner.... That criteria doesn't work for me... and I will never wait again... I'll go back to buying 9 or so months ahead... You just never know from year to year what the price will be... it's all a crap shoot.

I'm with Susan on this. The "deals" that you can watch for are often on unattractive routes with long travel times and layovers. If your object is to get the very lowest price and you are willing to tolerate the inconvenience, then you may be well rewarded by a "wait and watch" approach. . . But, for flying from the West coast, I like the flights that leave here and go to Europe non-stop; we then transfer there to our actual destination. In my experience, which encompasses some 15 years of flying nearly every year to someplace in Europe, those direct flights, at least from Seattle, do not change much in price from the time they first come out, or if anything they go up as it gets closer to departure. So I generally buy well in advance, when I know I can get the dates and seats I want. Maybe flying from SFO or LAX there is more competition on these routes and this doesn't apply as strictly as it does here in Seattle. But you might look carefully at the advice offered by other Californians on this.

I purchased tickets Atlanta - Madrid In October - London to Atlanta in November for return several months ago, in an effort to save any money that might be spent on a fare increase....checked just now and they are the same prices!! Usually they go up but not this time...just a roll of the dice anyway you go. Aticipate a return trip in the spring and will begin checking when I return in November.

I booked a flight to Paris in April 2011 to return from Venice about 2 months ago. My husband thought I was crazy booking it so far in advance but I read that once you see a fare you can live with just book it as you may never get the fare any cheaper. The fare was just over $1000 for the round trip per person and as I was prepared to pay $1200 at least I was actually happy. By the way, this fare was just on the airline's website (Delta) I generally have better luck just dealing with the airlines directly instead of other ticketing sites.

So, I was just looking up airfare, again, and noticed a "price assurance" from Orbitz. They will refund up to $250 per ticket if the price comes down up until the day you fly. Does anyone know about this and if it is really true?

My understanding on the Orbitz Price Assurance is that it only happens if someone else books the exact same flights and get it for less. Then, you would get a refund for the difference in prices.

There's a great website, www.yapta.com, that allows you to search out the flights that you like and track them. They'll email you immediately if the price drops. I always enter in flights that I've already booked so that I can keep tabs on the price in case it does drop...some airlines will give a refund or a flight credit. I also check www.travelzoo.com for flight deals. I've found some incredible package deals to Ireland and London on their website. ($646 for roundtrip air on Aer Lingus from JFK-SNN, plus a rental car and 6 nights in a 3-room villa; $720 for roundtrip air on Virgin Atlantic from JFK-LHR, plus 6 nights hotel and breakfast). The listed price for airfare on the airline websites exceeded the total package deal price. Good luck!

I had the same experience Susan did this year. I too always booked fairly well in advance, even 11 months a couple times when I saw good fares. But this year, based on advice I kept reading that said the best time to buy is 4-8 weeks in advance (some sources did just say about 8 weeks) I waited and waited for fares to come down. Bing forecasted they would go down, so many travel articles said to wait...And they just went up and up. I don't know what's normal for your flight, but if you see anything around what you consider normal, I'd buy it.

I'm leaving in two weeks, and my airfare was purchased back in February/March...prices have not gone down since then.

This discussion is causing me to have second thoughts about waiting to buy tickets to Germany or Luxembourg next May. It would be great if they came down, but currently the lowest are just under $1,000 for Luxembourg and just above that for Stuttgart. It is already near the top of my range, so I am not sure I want to gamble with prices rising out of my price range vs. saving $100 or $200 per ticket.

That's one of the problems with sites like Bing....they can only make forecasts based on past data. They can't cope when the airlines decide to drastically cut capacity to keep prices high...which is exactly what they've been doing for the past year. We're seeing the results now.

That's one of the problems with sites like Bing....they can only make forecasts based on past data. They can't cope when the airlines decide to drastically cut capacity to keep prices high...which is exactly what they've been doing for the past year. We're seeing the results now.

Sherri, that is a GREAT price flying from Northern California!!

For my upcoming trip to Germany and London, I was on orbitz daily for a month checking prices. Overnight it would go from $850 to $1100. One night, it was $777 and I bought them; that was four months before my trip. I check back periodically and have not seen a cheaper price. I lucked out; my advice is to make it a daily routine because it is a lot of money.