Airfare woes

[CouchTater]

On Monday I checked airfares and found a reasonable fare for late November but needed to verify something before I could book my flights. Today I log on to book and the fares have jumped almost $70 a ticket. Now I either have to wait and hope the fares go back down or cancel my trip entirely. I only have a week off and would lose too much time trying to drive. And they wonder why people aren't flying.

 

[LISAG410]

What airline is it? Jet Blue will credit you back the difference if the air fare goes down. It can be used for future travel up to a year, but you need to call Jet Blue when you see that the fare has gone down.

Give it a few weeks, the fare could drop again.

 

[CouchTater]

It was Delta. Unfortunately Jetblue does not fly out of Memphis. Northwest has managed to keep airlines like Jetblue and Southwest out of this area. Their only competition was Delta and now that they have merged they have a monopoly here. Just needed to vent lol. Guess I'll wait and hope for a price drop in the future.

 

[seashoreCM]

>>> And they wonder why people aren't flying.

Yup! Lots of people make the decision not to go at all when the fare doesn't come back down as they hoped.

Then there are folks who will book the higher fare and fly the higher fare if the fare never came down but who will book only if they could get the lower fare after the fact if the fare did come down. The airlines voted with their feet, I mean boardroom brains; they don't want these folks in their planes.

 

[msmayor]

>>> And they wonder why people aren't flying.

Yup! Lots of people make the decision not to go at all when the fare doesn't come back down as they hoped.

Then there are folks who will book the higher fare and fly the higher fare if the fare never came down but who will book only if they could get the lower fare after the fact if the fare did come down. The airlines voted with their feet, I mean boardroom brains; they don't want these folks in their planes.

Actually, the airlines are probably being smarter and pricing their 'product' more in line with what it costs to deliver the service.

 

[Tozzie]

>>> And they wonder why people aren't flying.

Yup! Lots of people make the decision not to go at all when the fare doesn't come back down as they hoped.

Then there are folks who will book the higher fare and fly the higher fare if the fare never came down but who will book only if they could get the lower fare after the fact if the fare did come down. The airlines voted with their feet, I mean boardroom brains; they don't want these folks in their planes.

The airlines are losing money, the airlines want to stay in business so they have to price flights to make money.

 

[camtheriot]

It was Delta. Unfortunately Jetblue does not fly out of Memphis. Northwest has managed to keep airlines like Jetblue and Southwest out of this area. Their only competition was Delta and now that they have merged they have a monopoly here. Just needed to vent lol. Guess I'll wait and hope for a price drop in the future.

I, personally, would wait for the price to drop. You still have afew more months. Also, maybe you can check nearby airports. We are flying out of an airport that is 3hrs away, because it will save us about $150 per person. Just a thought - I'm sure you probably thought of that already.

 

[Missytara]

I wouldn't necessarily wait too long. I booked Airtran eight weeks ago, for Saturday, November 28th through December 5th, the following Saturday. I got $172.00 round trip.

Yesterday, I looked and my flights going out and coming home are almost full. They are only offering the standard coach fare - and the flight is now $354.00 round trip. There are only about 25 seats left on the plane and we are almost four months out.

I would catch it when I can - it is a crap shoot like anything else.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

>>> And they wonder why people aren't flying.

Yup! Lots of people make the decision not to go at all when the fare doesn't come back down as they hoped.

Then there are folks who will book the higher fare and fly the higher fare if the fare never came down but who will book only if they could get the lower fare after the fact if the fare did come down. The airlines voted with their feet, I mean boardroom brains; they don't want these folks in their planes.

Oy Vey...yes, it makes since to offer really low fares that don't offset the true cost of operating a flight just so people can go on vacation.

 

[taitai]

Late November is Thanksgiving. It is unlikely any fairs are really going to go down between now and then as it is such a huge travel time. Airlines don't need to lower fares as their planes will be full at the higher prices. I know we booked to go to Mexico over Thanksgiving back in June for about $450/ticket. I looked yesterday and there are no more flights remaining at any time on our departure day and the next day has flights that start at $1300.

I wouldn't play chicken with the airlines at Thanksgiving.

Good luck
taitai

 

[CouchTater]

I decided to swallow my pride and book my reservations lol. Still not real happy about it but I don't want to take any chances. Thanks for the advice guys! At least I'm going to Wallyworld for the Christmas decorations!