A couple of basic questions about buying plane tickets

[MushyMushy]

I haven't flown since 2006, so forgive me if these questions are stupid.

First of all, is it possible to purchase a ticket for another person? We are taking a friend of my daughter's on a trip to WDW and she would be flying from and back to a different airport. Can I purchase her ticket myself? Not sure if it makes a difference, but she's 13.

Also, I downloaded Ding because we plan on flying SWA. As we get closer to the date, are the rates likely to increase or do we still have a chance of having them decrease the closer we get to our trip dates? FTR we are going from Dec 10 to 14 this year. I did notice that the first time I priced tickets, they were $80 one way and now they've gone up to $103. I assume they sold out of all the $80 tickets. Do I wait and risk that they'll continue to go up, or take my chances and have them drop?

 

[Jestocost]

Yes, you can purchase a ticket for another person on a different itinerary with no problem. You will need to be sure that they have all they need to check in and get their boarding pass. If you do fly SWA you may just want to go ahead and purchase the Early Bird Check-in option for DD's friend so that she doesn't have to worry about getting online 24 hours before her flight and can just get her BP once she gets to the airport. EBCI is $10 per person each way.

Whether fares will go up or down is one of the great eternal questions. SWA may or may not announce lower fares and your dates and flights may or may not be included. Fares for your days also could go up if you wait. There's really no way to tell for sure. My best advice is that if the current fares fit your budget; buy them. With SWA you always can take advantage of any future price reductions without paying a fee and get the difference in credits for a future flight.

FWIW, I would be jumping for joy if I could get flights for $103 each way. Our tickets for Thanksgiving were $400+ PP RT and have only gone up since we bought them.

 

[Missytara]

Fares drop off during the week and go back up on the weekends; my theory is that people are most likely to all be home on the weekends to plan their trips.

I book my flights on a Tuesday/Wednesday around 6:00 am, when NO one is bothering to buy. Believe me, I booked mine that early, by lunchtime, when my friends booked theirs, they had gone up $30.00.

The best thing is that when it gets to a comfortable amount, snag it. I think if you can fly anywhere in the US for $100.00 each way, that is a pretty good price.

I can tell you I booked my flight for November 27 - December 4th three and a half months ago at $193.00 round trip, and now the same flights are almost hovering around $450.00 round trip. And I am still a bit less than 2-1/2 months away from going!

Point is that buying airfare has become like playing roulette. You just gotta ride it out and book it when you think you got the best deal.

 

[AlexDurrani]

Even ding fares suffer price increases. I watch the ding fares from time to time and saw Houston to orlando for 75 each way and I actually bought it. I had actually bought my ticks early that year for more and saved 45 bucks each way. there were 3 more ding fares but none less then 89 bucks afterwards.

 

[MushyMushy]

Thanks for the info, folks! I'll definitely look into the early check in, at least for my daughter's friend. It won't be a problem for me to do it online in advance, but I'm not sure about her. Although this kid is a far more seasoned traveler than I am, so she probably already knew the answers herself.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Absolutely buy the tickets now. You can always get a credit from SWA if prices drop. However, December is a prime travel time, so I would guess the prices will not go down.

I would also not waste money to pay for EBCI for a single traveler. She should have no problem getting a decent check in number if she (or you) check in 24 hours in advance.