airline prices keep going up

[vivianmarie244]

Can't decide if we should bite the bullet and get them or wait. What do you think?

 

[pigletto]

What airline and when is your trip?

I've noticed lately I am finding the best deals when flights are released or shortly after. If there is a sale that covers my flight at a later date I adjust and get the credit to use for future travel if it's with Southwest or Jetblue.
These days they don't seem to come down much if they're going up. I always advise to book at the price you can live with rather than waiting and hoping.

 

[vivianmarie244]

Not going until Sept 20-28th. I've been looking at USAir as they seem to have the cheapest prices now. They were going for $298 but are now going at $432!

 

[vivianmarie244]

Just kidding! It's $342.

 

[nvsnot]

I'm glad I got my flight reservations last week when I did. Not only have the prices gone up, the return flight we needed is sold out now! We are flying southwest and the departure flight has gone from $89 that we paid to $128; the return flight has gone from $128 to sold out and for other times either too early or too late a departure for us have gone up by about $50 on average.

 

[FreeTime]

I would buy now and adjust later if needed. It seems that airfare deals are not as frequent anymore. Gone are my days of flying RT for less than $150. Our summer vacation for this year we have decided to drive (6000 miles RT EEEEKKKKK!!!) because airfare is $600+ each. At least we will get to see parts of the country we haven't before.

 

[Ambassador]

We try to purchase flights as early as they are released. But recent studies http://business.time.com/2012/01/24...p-airline-tickets-is-6-weeks-before-a-flight/ have suggested buying 6-8 weeks in advance. We can't wait that long, and it seems a great risk.

 

[Snow Shoe]

Buy now. Prices probably will continue to go up now, and when new fuel contracts the airlines sign for over the summer/fall months.

 

[pigletto]

Also in my opinion do not buy on the weekend. They always seem to go up for the weekends (and I watch flights daily when I am booking.) Tuesday and Wednesday seem to be the days they will be the lowest.

 

[goofy4tink]

We try to purchase flights as early as they are released. But recent studies http://business.time.com/2012/01/24...p-airline-tickets-is-6-weeks-before-a-flight/ have suggested buying 6-8 weeks in advance. We can't wait that long, and it seems a great risk.

I can't do that either. I book as soon as I can..usually as soon as they open their booking windows. BUT, I generally fly with either SW or JB.
Waiting on early Dec flights at the moment.

 

[vivianmarie244]

I'm trying to talk my family into waiting for southwest to release flights for our dates on March 4th. At least we can adjust if the prices go down. But, based on the current flight times, I don't think they will fit what we planned on. Do they allow you to change flights if they offer a later time closer to our dates?

 

[JennSaint]

I'm trying to talk my family into waiting for southwest to release flights for our dates on March 4th. At least we can adjust if the prices go down. But, based on the current flight times, I don't think they will fit what we planned on. Do they allow you to change flights if they offer a later time closer to our dates?

$342 seems really high for your dates but then again I don't know where you are flying from? I personally would wait. You still have alot of time.
Southwest allows you to change flights without a fee. If the flight you want to switch to is less you will receive a credit.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

I would suggest buying now. We fly southwest and in years past the price has eventually dipped down again after the release date but for this coming trip at release I would have been able to get 5 RT adult tickets for 942. They have not dipped back to that price or even close to it since then. There was a brief dip back to 1200.00 for 5 tickets. I didnt even bother to calculate current prices since they were over 300.00 per person RT.

 

[gone2disney]

I can totally relate. Been waiting for prices to drop and they have not...I saw the flight I wanted go from $114 to $175 in a week. I check to see howmany seats have been sold and the flight is empty. I would think that prices would go down to encourage bookings not up. Flight is mid-July and I am scared that prices keep going up despite only 3 seats booked.

 

[mcraige]

I'm not sure which airline you are looking at, but many only show online which seats are assigned, and not how many seats are actually sold.