Airfare sales after the holidays?

[MeganAnne]

I am at the point where I am ready to commit to my Disneyland trip and buy our plane tickets (yay!), but I'm also having second thoughts about buying now. I am kinda paranoid about buying tickets now, then finding them on sale in a few days. But I'm also terrified that if I hesitate, prices will only go up. Such a dilemma!

I tried googling this, but apparently my Google-fu is weak. So I ask you my fellow Dis-ers: are there usually after-christmas sales for airfare? Should I wait? Or take the plunge now and buy?

 

[skiingfast]

Oil is fairly cheap right now. It may go up tomorrow. This is the main driving factor of airfare prices.

 

[cagrlnor]

I've read that the best time to buy is Tuesday afternoon/night.
An article by abc news says; "And let me get even more specific: shop on Tuesday at about 3 p.m."
I'm in the same boat. We are planning spring break so airfare is already high
Good Luck!

 

[Homemom]

Southwest announced a $59 sale today, but it won't be ready until 2 pm central, so I don't know the details. Maybe it would work for you.

 

[Sjwillia]

I booked my May trip last week. I have been watching Jet Blue from PDX to LGB for months. It was posted at $99 each way for a very long time. Last week it dropped to $69 each way so I went for it. I suppose it could go lower but the $69 fits comfortably in the budget and I like having everything planned early.

 

[Dizzy4DL]

Check out http://www.yapta.com.
We usually use Alaska airlines. After purchase, we enter our dates, flight numbers and price paid with Yapta. If the price goes down after purchase, they email you and tell you how to get a voucher in the amount of the price difference for a future flight. We already have $20 apiece from our February trip.

So if you book with one of these airlines you might want to check them out:
Alaska
American
AirTran
Continental
Delta
Hawaiian
JetBlue
United
US Airways
Virgin America

 

[cagrlnor]

I decided to book our Spring Break trip (end of March) on SWA yesterday. I used the low fare calendar. My first choice was sold out of the "get away fare" so I altered my fly dates by two days (to Wednesday) and got $129 to and $99 from (Wednesday to Wednesday).

I think if you wait too long (more than 30 day before trip) you risk them being sold out of low fares.

I wonder if I booked earlier they'd have the cheaper fare. But then again it's the first weekend of spring break here, so probably not.

Signing up for the airline's email is of course helpful.

Good Luck!

 

[KCmike]

Southwest runs pretty good deals every other few months or so for us in KC to LAX. I follow it pretty close and it seems that once a quarter (every three months) I can find a stellar deal where the price drops by over $50 or so. I can't pinpoint the exact time but I check it all the time. I am currently looking for late summer for Disneyland. I suspect the deals to drop sometime around March or April for me if I remember correctly. Southwest also gives you a voucher good for another flight in the future if your fare drops. Catch is you have to use that money within a year of changing or you lose it.

 

[Lucille1963]

Thanks for posting this. It reminded me to check my Southwest Airlines flights to see if the price dropped. They did! I just got a $160 credit for our flights home. I booked our flight months ago because I really wanted specific flight times and no lay overs. With SWA's policy, if the price drops, you get a credit. It works for us!