AirFare...

[brianheather]

Does anyone have any tricks or hints as too when the best time to book with an airline? We have a Trip booked in May with 7 people. Right now the fare is crazy. I just was curious if anyone out there knows when the best time to book would be.. will prices drop closer to the trip?

 

[ancestry]

What part of May are you looking to travel and between which airports?

Do you have a preferred airline that you are looking to travel on or are you willing to fly on any airline?

Are you flexible with travel times or do you need a flight around a specific time?

What is an affordable round trip airfare for you with taxes and fees? What do you consider "crazy" as far as airfare goes?

We usually travel in mid-May from PWM (Portland Maine) to MCO. I usually buy our airfare in January or February once AirTran and/or Jet Blue starts with their late Spring/early Summer sales. If I watch I can usually get the trip round trip for $200-$250 dollars.

I have found that it is cheaper if we travel mid-week rather than over the weekends. Fares on weekends to MCO tends to be higher especially on Sundays. We can usually snag the cheapest airfare by going on Tuesday, Wednesday, and sometimes on Saturday.

 

[Marionnette]

Does anyone have any tricks or hints as too when the best time to book with an airline? We have a Trip booked in May with 7 people. Right now the fare is crazy. I just was curious if anyone out there knows when the best time to book would be.. will prices drop closer to the trip?

Booking a good rate is a crap shoot. The airlines usually start with a few cheap seats and when they sell out the price goes up. You might want to break your group up into two or three smaller groups when you do your search. The reason for doing this is that if your searching for seven seats and only two are available at the lower price then you will not see those two lower priced seats in your search results. You will only see a price where there are seven or more seats available at the same price.

 

[brianheather]

What part of May are you looking to travel and between which airports?

Do you have a preferred airline that you are looking to travel on or are you willing to fly on any airline?

Are you flexible with travel times or do you need a flight around a specific time?

What is an affordable round trip airfare for you with taxes and fees? What do you consider "crazy" as far as airfare goes?

We usually travel in mid-May from PWM (Portland Maine) to MCO. I usually buy our airfare in January or February once AirTran and/or Jet Blue starts with their late Spring/early Summer sales. If I watch I can usually get the trip round trip for $200-$250 dollars.

I have found that it is cheaper if we travel mid-week rather than over the weekends. Fares on weekends to MCO tends to be higher especially on Sundays. We can usually snag the cheapest airfare by going on Tuesday, Wednesday, and sometimes on Saturday.

We are traveling the end of May on a Friday... I know the worst right? We are really considering seeing if we can get a room on Thursday just to get a cheaper rate. Our nearest airports are Allentown pa(15mins) Newark and Philly. We are heading to the World in December for our Honeymoon and I guess I just was spoiled getting a rate of 286.00 for both of us round trip out of Allentown on Allegaint Air.

 

[ancestry]

We are traveling the end of May on a Friday... I know the worst right? We are really considering seeing if we can get a room on Thursday just to get a cheaper rate. Our nearest airports are Allentown pa(15mins) Newark and Philly. We are heading to the World in December for our Honeymoon and I guess I just was spoiled getting a rate of 286.00 for both of us round trip out of Allentown on Allegaint Air.

Sorry - I'm not sure what advice to give that might help based on this information. Friday on a Holiday Weekend (Memorial Day) with a large group of seven people? Chances of getting a good rate are going to be pretty slim.

The only suggestion I have is to keep looking. You can use yapta.com to monitor fares for specific flights and they will let you know when (or if) the prices drop.

I also agree with the PP who send to not search on all seven people at once. Air fare often goes up incrementally. You may may have to book multiple reservations to get the incremental price breaks (i.e two people on on reservation number, 3 on another and 2 on another).

 

[bettymae1121]

I'm a corporate travel agent. While there are always exceptions, you usually don't see sale fares before six months out, and generally see the best prices at the 3-4 month mark (though deals 1-2 months out are always possible, the closer you are to your trip the more risk you take that fares could shoot through the roof or sell out completely)

For May, I'd start looking in January, but would book no later than mid March. It's a bit like playing chicken, as you watch the fares go down, the trick is to buy (flinch!) before the fares start going back up again. What I tell my clients (the few that pay for their own tickets, usually the company picks up the tab) is that once you see a fare you can live with for the dates/times you want, go ahead and buy them. If you wait for a better deal, the fares could go up or the dates/times you want sell out. Once you buy them, unless the airline you are on will give future credits if the price drops, stop looking at fares, you'll only drive yourself nuts.

ETA: I just noticed you said you're traveling at the end of May, which means you're going close to or over Memorial Day. Holiday travel works differently than travel over ordinary dates, as far as price is concerned. I'd buy in Jan. and no later than the end of Feb. in this case. You likely won't get as good a deal since it's a holiday weekend but if you book early in '11 you'll probably do okay.

 

[njmom47]

I signed up for emails for discount flights (not that I am going anywhere soon but I can dream! ) from a bunch of sites.

 

[quentina]

We are traveling the end of May on a Friday... I know the worst right? We are really considering seeing if we can get a room on Thursday just to get a cheaper rate. Our nearest airports are Allentown pa(15mins) Newark and Philly. We are heading to the World in December for our Honeymoon and I guess I just was spoiled getting a rate of 286.00 for both of us round trip out of Allentown on Allegaint Air.

Allegiant did not start sale fares (I am not even sure their regular fares are on sale yet). The airtran flight out of ABE is decent...this may be on sale now. I would keep watching Allegiant. That is a nice plane for a decent price! Also, check Jet Blue out of Newark....they offer the tv in each seat which is amazing!