Air fare questions

[dani0622]

Morning,
I am pretty inexperienced when it comes to flying and booking flights having only flown 4 times in my life. My DH is going to burst a blood vessel when he finds out but last week I was able to find air fare for our upcoming trip for $90 round trip per person. I foolishly did not book I checked again last night and the fare had increased to $130 round trip and I said uh-oh and then this morning it was up to $180! Haven't told DH yet. Is this normal for airlines to do? Do you think it will keep going up or do prices fluctuate?

 

[CarolA]

A few questions. When and where?

I see you are going in Febuary. If it is ANYTIME around the school breaks in the northeast and that is where you are flying from I don't see any price breaks coming.

 

[dani0622]

We're coming from NJ, beginning of February, not near any school breaks. Thanks.

 

[bicker]

Keep in mind that you might not be seeing a price increase, but rather simply a reflection that the more deeply-discounted tickets are being purchased, leaving only less discounted tickets behind.

Further discounting will be limited by how much space remains available on each flight, and to a lesser extent, on flights overall. Inventories have been cut back significantly, to address financial concerns, so my guess would be that it would be very lucky if that $90 fare shows up again anytime soon, for that week in February.

What I think will be key is your flexibility: Don't look for specific flights, or look to book flights at specific times of the day, but rather let the booking engine choose those things for you. I don't know where you live in NJ, but from EWR to MCO during the first week in February, you can get airline tickets for $160 right now. The $180 fare corresponds to more premium times of the day. Alternatively, you could spend some extra time getting to LGA, where the fare is still as low as $135 right now. You'll need to decide which is more important, the timing or the the $80 - $180 total roundtrip (for two) you'd save by traveling on the flights that still have the more heavily-discounted tickets.

 

[dani0622]

Thanks!

 

[canwegosoon]

I like both www.sidestep.com and www.itasoftware.com to help look for good prices on flights.

 

[dani0622]

I like both www.sidestep.com and www.itasoftware.com to help look for good prices on flights.

Thanks I am trying them now!