DH has been "Sitting" on airfare and it went up!!!

[D L and K's Mom]

Last week we finalized the trip!! Yeah. We checked airfare and decided we found one we could do. I told DH one of us needed to go to the airport (we have some $ on vouchers so we have to do it at the airport). He didn"t want to go since it was the beginning of School vacation .....that was Thurs. Ok so today I get up and check the airlines website and THE TICKETS ARE DOUBLE!!! I could kill him. I knew it..It is Christmas time and the airfares are always higher. His suggestions now is to wait until the come down....Is he nuts. Come down? They are not going to come down. They are going to continue to rise!! We can only use DELTA as that is where we have $ I am so angry I am about to just stay home. I am so sad and angry.

 

[Esmerelda]

Yes ma'am...airfares are like the stock market (or the weather?)....they change from moment to moment. If you have a set goal that you are willing to pay for a ticket and you find it...you should always jump on it. Unfortunately, a lot of consumers aren't aware of their constant change.
I've had tickets change from 10 minutes ago when I checked them.

sending pixie dust for a better fare,
Esmerelda

 

[D L and K's Mom]

I know. Thank you for the encouragement. I really am so not into making all the arrangements for this trip. Things just seem to be getting worse.......maybe we should go in the summer. Thanks again.

 

[Bill From PA]

If Delta is the same as USAir you can book now and if the rates come down they'll give you a voucher for the difference. We had a USAir flight drop by $50 and we were rebated the difference.

Bill From PA

 

[Dan Murphy]

I would think there will be fare sales again between now and then, it's a long way off. Also, I have used vouchers in the past, for Milwaukee and I am 10 minutes from O'Hare. I call the airline (Midwest)(getting the name of the rep I talk to), to verify what I want to do, then go and book the fare online, sending the voucher in the mail (certified) with the res # listed with it. Works fine, no trip to the airport. Also, verify if doing as Bill suggested above (good tip, Bill). I always did that in the past also, worked great, now airline (Midwest) charges a $100 rebooking charge to get a voucher. If fare saving is less than $100, makes no sense to request the voucher. I am sure it is different with different airlines, but they do change the rules, and not generally relaxing them. Just an FYI.

 

[bicker]

Just a note about what Bill said -- many airlines, I believe Delta and US Airways included -- will still often apply the applicable Change Fee if you wish to take advantage of any fare decrease. In many cases, that would eat-up any of the savings from switching to the lower fare. So to keep your options open, be sure that the airfare you book doesn't have a Change Fee.

 

[Bill From PA]

When we got our rebate there was no fee for it, but that was at least 4 years ago. As Bicker said, inquire about that angle.

Bill From PA

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Do not get so upset - just keep checking the fares every day. You will be shocked at how much they fluctuate. It's very likely that they will drop again.

And there is no need to go to the airport to buy the tickets, even using vouchers, unless it's a very short trip with free parking and no lines.

 

[lovesdumbo]

You might want to check into Southwest when they open their schedule out for your dates. You may be able to get a better deal with them then with Delta using vouchers-depending on how big your vouchers are.

I booked my flight late May with my DD last week at $135.60 round trip non stop. I also have any early May trip that I booked using Ding for $115.60.

Are you sure you need to go the airport? I flew Delta's Song on my Oct 04 and Oct 05 trips. I was able to reduce my fare on my the Oct 04 trip by $90 per person (before Delta started charging change fees) and I was able to just use the voucher # when booking the Oct 05 trip online.

Good luck!

 

[D L and K's Mom]

We had a terrible trip with Delta and my DS. After talking to some of the "higher ups" they sent us vouchers for $250.00 per person. The problem was they expired the same year. We were not able to schedule a trip that year. We contacted Delta and they gave us a letter to use with the vouchers and that is why we had to go right to a Delta desk. We had $250 in vouchers from Delta and $100 that we had received on another trip when DH gave up his seat. We also had $47.50 per person from another trip when we had overpaid for seats (mix-up with pricing for baby .......) We ended up owing $6.00 a person! BUT before DH went the fare was not listed anymore. It had gone up. The lady at the ticket window was able to finally secure the rate we had found and all is well. After looking at this post maybe we should never ever use DELTA again as they seem to have a bad track record with us. I would love to use a direct flight. Airfare is set, all is weel. WE didnt have to pay lots of extra $ because if we did the trip would have been off. Thanks for all the input!!!!

 

[lovesdumbo]

That is great news! I never believe the trip is real until we have purchased airfare. I know we won't cancel our flights so then I feel like the planning can really begin.

Have fun planning!

 

[lynz421]

We have seen the same thing, luckily we bought when they started to rise so the hit wasn't bad. I talked to a friend who works for the airlines(us air) and he said that the rates always go up across the board now due to spring break. Since you trip isn't for a bit why not wait until college breaks are over. My friend said that after the breaks they typically drop back to normally until the fall
hope this helps

 

[Alice Sr.]

sending pixie dust for a better fare,
Esmerelda

Ooh Esmerelda has good pixie dust! I know who I'm calling if I need help.

 

[D L and K's Mom]

thank y ou so much. DH was able to go to the airport and get the cheaper fare from the Delta desk there. We grabbed the fare that we had talked about while we could get it. We are sort of locked into dates and times as we are both teachers and have to work the 22nd. Thank you so much for the advice and the pixie dust IT WORKED!!!!