Airfare

[magpie889]

Does anyone know if there is certain times a day you should check airfare??? I am a first timer booking my vacation and I am trying to find cheaper air!!! I know to look at Spirit but any other suggestions?

 

[goofy4tink]

I've been making 2-3 trips to MCO a year for about 4 years now. I have yet to find any particular time gets me better fares. Yes, there are those out there who say to check online, at the airlines website, on Tuesdays at midnight...or some other such thing. I just can't be bothered. I know, ahead of time, how much I want to spend on airfare. Then, I can keep checking. When I see an airfare I can live with, I book it. Sure, sometimes that same flight may decrease it's fares, but more often, the fares will increase.
Others may have different advice for you though. I just check each day, several times a day..morning and later in the evening.

 

[WdwforLife]

Download the "Ding" application from Southwest.com. It immediately alerts you to any specials and dropped prices from Southwest. It really helps.

 

[jacos11]

I will second what goofy said. I have read two articles that said Tuesday's are the best day to search for airfare. On my most recent search that just happened to work for us as well. I found a really low fare on Tuesday, went back wednesday to buy it and it had already gone up $80.

 

[serene56]

I find weekends tend to have the higher prices...wait til Tuesday and Wednesday.

I use kayak.com and find a flight that is good times nad track the flights using yapta for price changes.

 

[magpie889]

thank you all for the advice!! I will give Tuesday a whirl! Although today they have a good deal but it is Saturday! Should I chance waiting till Tuesday or book?

 

[serene56]

thank you all for the advice!! I will give Tuesday a whirl! Although today they have a good deal but it is Saturday! Should I chance waiting till Tuesday or book?

When is your trip? do you have time to wait?

How does the seats look===is there a lot left?

 

[skiingfast]

thank you all for the advice!! I will give Tuesday a whirl! Although today they have a good deal but it is Saturday! Should I chance waiting till Tuesday or book?

Good deals are fleeting.

I would check www.bing.com/travel/ Put in your dates and see what the predictor says as to wether prices are going up or down.

 

[magpie889]

I don't really have time to wait because I am going the end of August! It is a last minute kind of trip b/c with paying for school and my car I was unsure if I would have the money or not to go on a trip! But I want to! and I think I am just going to book the flight I found!

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

This was our prob too magpie, we are leaving in Aug so the clock is ticking. I have been looking on and off for the past week and a half for my parents fight (we are driving) and was having a hard time b/c prices wee ridiculous! They are fying continental out of Newark and round trip was $1600 for 3 people
They could have gotten it cheaper if they would have taken a later flight but then they would miss a whole day @ WDW and then I suggested flying in the night before late and staying at a hotel, but then my mom said if she's going to spend extra money on a hotel room she might as well just stick with the original flight @ 11AM. There wasn't much in terms of seats available, at least not sitting together and I know my mom and sister didn't want to sit next to strangers lol.
GL!

 

[serene56]

THATS exactly why that flight is so expensive- hardly any seats left.

If you see a flight with only a few seats lef you can bet that flight is gonna be costly.

When we got our flights we booked the 2pm coming home. We paid 200.00 roundtrip-- but that 2.00 flight home is now 259.00 one way. Not many seats left.

 

[magpie889]

This was our prob too magpie, we are leaving in Aug so the clock is ticking. I have been looking on and off for the past week and a half for my parents fight (we are driving) and was having a hard time b/c prices wee ridiculous! They are fying continental out of Newark and round trip was $1600 for 3 people
They could have gotten it cheaper if they would have taken a later flight but then they would miss a whole day @ WDW and then I suggested flying in the night before late and staying at a hotel, but then my mom said if she's going to spend extra money on a hotel room she might as well just stick with the original flight @ 11AM. There wasn't much in terms of seats available, at least not sitting together and I know my mom and sister didn't want to sit next to strangers lol.
GL!

Yea the early flights book up fast! It is so hard to decide when to book or not! but the waiting only makes it worse! As for sitting next to on another my bf and I dont care we are chancing it b/c we dont want to pay lol plus baggage cost so much now to!

 

[TwiddleDeeTwiddleDum]

I may have misunderstood the OP talking about checking fares on Tuesdays? but I have always found the best fares if I am willing to travel on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. ANd several sites will ask your date & if you are willing to fly 1-2 days before or after your preferred date. Sometimes you can get a better fare that way. Hope that helps!

 

[magpie889]

thank you

 

[Keishag]

Sorry to hijack the thread but can somebody tell me how far out Southwest allows booking? We're still a year away but Id rather have one more thing paid for.

 

[Huff]

How far out do most of you find decent airfare rates? Our trip is Sept. 4th-12th. Current rates from Phx-Mco are about $270. They did drop from $295 a few days ago. Was hoping for a little better but not sure how long to wait.

SW is still $328 and has not changed for several weeks. Never any Dings either but wouldn't expect them till a few weeks prior if at all. SW cut many of their flights to MCO.

 

[Missytara]

I may have misunderstood the OP talking about checking fares on Tuesdays? but I have always found the best fares if I am willing to travel on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. ANd several sites will ask your date & if you are willing to fly 1-2 days before or after your preferred date. Sometimes you can get a better fare that way. Hope that helps!

No she is correct. I booked mine around 6:00 am on a Tuesday and it seems to be the lowest all week.

My theory is that families or couples are normally home together on the weekends, and tend to finalize their traveling plans. I have watched the airfare climb to a high on Fridays through Monday mornings. On Tuesday/Wednesday, it seems to go down again. It can even fluctuate during the day.

I booked my airfare last year at 6:00 am on a Tuesday morning, and by the time my two friends booked theirs on their lunch hour, it was $30.00 more. By the weekend, it was almost $100.00 more.

 

[Missytara]

How far out do most of you find decent airfare rates? Our trip is Sept. 4th-12th. Current rates from Phx-Mco are about $270. They did drop from $295 a few days ago. Was hoping for a little better but not sure how long to wait.

SW is still $328 and has not changed for several weeks. Never any Dings either but wouldn't expect them till a few weeks prior if at all. SW cut many of their flights to MCO.

My trip is 11/27 through 12/4.

I booked mine three weeks ago. I got $192.00 round trip with Airtran, non-stop both ways, early morning going down and early evening coming back.

It has now jumped to $362.00, so I wouldn't wait.

 

[Missytara]

Sorry to hijack the thread but can somebody tell me how far out Southwest allows booking? We're still a year away but Id rather have one more thing paid for.

You will never see Southwest post fares that far out.

That is why I prefer to go ahead and book Airtran, since I go the weekend of Thanksgiving.

 

[zamboniman333]

We are still waiting to book our flights for our Dec trip. Hoping the price will come down later in the summer, what do you think? Right now the flights we want and at about $350.00. We are leaving on a Tues (Nov 30th) and coming home on a Sat. How long do you guys normally wait it out? Family of 3

Thanks