Best time to purchase plane tickets?

[nutshell]

We're flying to DLR in August from Sacramento.

I'm tempted to buy plane tickets now and be done with everything, but I'm also wondering if prices will come down if I wait.

When is the best time to purchase tickets for a mid-August trip?

 

[slruud]

If it were me, I would book the $59 fare offered Southwest currently...$139 roundtrip per person. I just threw in some dates before the August 22 cutoff and got that rate. Then I would sit back and watch for sales and DING!s. Good luck.

 

[imjen]

I think that sounds like a good plan, too. slrudd, question for you, I know you can go into your itinerary and change to cheaper tickets if they come up before your trip but how does that work with Ding? I haven't been able to figure that one out. Thanks!

 

[nutshell]

What's DING! ????

 

[DangerMouse]

What's DING! ????

Southwest Airlines special fares:

www.southwest.com

 

[slruud]

When a sale fare comes out, go to Travel Tools and select Change Reservation to book at the lower fare. For a DING! fare, you will have to cancel the original flight and then book the DING! fare. It's best to have two windows open for this. One to the point of purchase of the DING!, and one for the cancel of the original booking. Good luck.

 

[nutshell]

Aren't there penalties for cancelling the original booking?

 

[slruud]

No penalties....done it many times. Any leftover $$$ will be held as ticketless travel funds. Some have had luck crediting their credit cards.

 

[nutshell]

Thanks!

I've downloaded DING, but I keep getting a communication error that I need to fix.

 

[brenda1966]

Okay, for those of us who can't use Southwest because they don't fly to our first destination (santa barbara), any tips on getting a better airfare than then nearly $400 dollars a seat I seem to be finding! Even with layovers, I'm still finding airfare over $350 a seat (and it's not worth the $50 savings to have a layover).

I'm trying to travel mid-July. Last year I scored tickets for $310 each, a great deal, in January. But I've been checking every day for the last month and the tickets went down $20 and then back up.

Even to fly direct in and out of LAX is over $250 with layovers. This is just crazy! (Southwest does have a few flights in and out of LAX and that may be my last resort if I can't get anything to Santa Barbara -- I just hate that drive from LAX to SB because DD gets car sick every time!)

 

[imjen]

When a sale fare comes out, go to Travel Tools and select Change Reservation to book at the lower fare. For a DING! fare, you will have to cancel the original flight and then book the DING! fare. It's best to have two windows open for this. One to the point of purchase of the DING!, and one for the cancel of the original booking. Good luck.

Awesome, thanks! I never thought of doing it that way. That's a big help.