airfare question.....from a dummy

[WishMom09]

SO we NEVER fly.....simply because it is just WAY too expensive for us and I really prefer to drive!
BUT on our upcoming surprise trip I am looking at flying because of time restraints. And I have a couple of questions that might be dumb!
1. Does air fare go up as the travel date gets closer?
2. Do they ever add flights at a busy time (like Christmas) near the travel date?
3. If I book a flight and something changes can I get a refund or change the flight ...say from Christmas to summer??
Thank you so much for your help!

 

[Mom3girls]

I can answer #3:

If you book with Southwest and your plans change you can get a credit from southwest to use at a later date. The credit will be good for one year from your original purchase date. Likewise, if your flight price changes and you catch it southwest will credit you the amt for later travel also. I purchased flights for my family of 5 and two weeks later the price went down and I rebooked on their website at the cheaper price and now have a credit with them for $590 to use before end of March.

 

[Anthony1971]

question 2 and 3 NO (3 is possible but the tickets will be 3 or 4 times as the same without that option)

Plane fair will reach a low anywhere form 5 months to one month before the trip in general.
Christams time will likely be on the earlier end.
Go on to Jetblue.com if they fly form your area or AA.com and look at the prices start form a dte next week and keep moving up a week (both sites allow you to do so) look for the low and this should be an idea of what you should pay and around how long out that price will be offered.
Once you decide on where the proce should be however you need to watch the airline sites every day and when you see a price that is close you need to buy or suck up whatever price it is a month out as it in general will go up from there.

 

[Anthony1971]

I can answer #3:

If you book with Southwest and your plans change you can get a credit from southwest to use at a later date. The credit will be good for one year from your original purchase date. Likewise, if your flight price changes and you catch it southwest will credit you the amt for later travel also. I purchased flights for my family of 5 and two weeks later the price went down and I rebooked on their website at the cheaper price and now have a credit with them for $590 to use before end of March.

not an answer just addition
Jetblue will credit you for a lower fair and charge you to change dates
all others will credit you for a lower fare for a fee making it not worth it for the most part also they will change dates for a fee...ask before you book as they all differ or fly SW if you can but make sure this policy is still in pace as things change...
best advice is only book an airline if you are 99.99999% sure you can go at that time.

 

[njmom47]

Try a site like BookingBuddy, TripAdvisor or Kayak. You can put your dates and other preferences in and receive emails when the prices change. It's also been shown that Tues and Wed are cheaper days to purchase your flight tickets.

 

[RMAMom]

You may also want to remember to add luggage fees to the prices you are looking at. Southwest doesn't charge you for your first two checked bags and Jetblue I believe doesn't charge you for your first checked bag. Airtran charges for seat assignment and Spirit charges for everything including your carry on. My point is that each airline is different so you may want to have that info for the airline your considering when checking the prices.

 

[dumbodame]

I have found that Yapta is a valuable tool for tracking flights and automatically checking for refunds for you on a daily basis.