Do I buy now?

[kilee]

I am not sure what to do. I was holding off waiting for a "sale" for my January airfare. Only, w/ the whole fuel situation I don't know if I'll get a sale. Even worse I'm afraid that the tickets will get so expensive we won't be able to get them anyhow. I know the gas went up $.35 tonight just from this morning and we are told by the weekend it will be an additional $.25 more. I could buy those tickets tonight, but it does put a strain on my budget for the next 2 weeks alittle bit. We'd be fine, but a strain none the less. I feel so guilty as I'm typing this because my problem seems so trivial.
Any insight???

 

[safetymom]

I would get the tickets and then you could relax. Chances are they are going to go up and I don't think you will see fare wars for awhile.

 

[debster812]

If you're happy with the price, I'd buy the tickets now. I paid a little too much for my February flights, but I could live with it, and now I don't see them going down much at all.

 

[CarolA]

OK. Logic would indicate that airline prices will go up as fuel prices do. However, if the airlines used logic they would be MAKING money as opposed losing money.

If the price increase is just a spike and fuel prices drop then maybe you won't see big airline incrases, but anyone who claims to be able to predict airline pricing is in the wrong business. Why aren't they picking winning lottery tickets?

 

[Jen D]

I just asked the same question on another thread. I was waiting for my fare to go down, and it in fact increased by $10 since yesterday. Can't decide what to do. Was planning on buying in October when I have a big check coming in but I could strain and buy them now on my no-interest cc (I hate carrying a balance even on one with no interest.... it just gets me into bad habits! )

I thought about buying all day yesterday before my tickets increased but part of me felt weird about worrying about my vacation plane tickets in the middle of all this and I could never quite sit down to the computer and make the commitment. Well this morning they surely went up... just a nudge, to be sure, but still...

Now I just don't know what to do.

 

[riu girl]

I bought BUF-MCO Dec 17 at $99 one way the day the fares were released since that will probably be a very busy travel day. Glad I did, the least expensive fare is now $133 one way.

I missed yesterdays BUF-MCO DING (rats!!) but I booked my return Jan 7 at $79 one way this morning. Looking at my dates, the seats are really filling up and I feel alright with this price. If I can snag a DING or lower price I will re-book and ask SWA for a refund. If can't get a refund, I have a family member who will maybe be able to use the credit.

I tell you, now that everything is booked, I feel a sense of relief that I don't have to watch the SWA web site constantly. In the Florida trip budget, I had allocated $800-$1050 US for flights and the price I am currently paying is somewhere between $800-$900 so I am at the lower end of the budget. Knowing that I am paying about half of what I would have to pay to fly over Christmas out of Toronto is great too.

 

[Disneyjosh229]

OK. Logic would indicate that airline prices will go up as fuel prices do. However, if the airlines used logic they would be MAKING money as opposed losing money.

If the price increase is just a spike and fuel prices drop then maybe you won't see big airline incrases, but anyone who claims to be able to predict airline pricing is in the wrong business. Why aren't they picking winning lottery tickets?

Exactly!

Airlines have quite possibly the most illogical system for fares. With the "increase" in gas prices, I would expect to see flights become cheaper to be competitive with driving. Who knows, prices could drop or raise to all new records. Even though 87 Octaine Fuel has hit all time records (saw $5 something a gallon in GA), Jet Fuel has stayed the same, due to the small amount of crude oil that is actually needed to produce Jet Fuel.

 

[have2getaway]

I simply can't afford to go if the airline rates increase. I also feel bad worrying about something so trivial during what is going on, but I know that I would regret not acting and buying the tickets and end up paying an outrageous amount later.

 

[allie&mattsmom]

If I were you, I'd buy now. That's just me, but I have a feeling airline prices are going to shoot up. In fact, in our paper this morning there was an article about that happening. We just bit the bullet and purchased our tickets yesterday. Good luck to ya whatever you decide .

 

[Debbie Jean]

We're also going in January so I'm in the same quandry.

I've been checking Newark to MCO every day and the prices seem to be pretty stable so far. I even found a fare of $180 for Continental today! JetBlue is still $215 but I'm hoping they will come down and match the Continental fare... we'd really rather fly JetBlue.

Course, it could be that if I wait Continental will raise it's fare to match JetBlue!

 

[grinningghost]

Oh wow - I'm in the same boat, except my trip isn't until July! I'm still thinking about buying my tickets now, because who knows what could happen if I wait. I would hate to cancel a whole trip just because I couldn't afford the airfare.

I think I might just bite the bullet and buy them.

Glad to know others feel a little silly worrying about airfare during a major catastrophe, but I guess we all need to keep living.

 

[marathonmommy]

I'm feelin the same way (for an April trip)! Almost bought on two different ocassions, but did not. Let me know what you all decide to do. Comfort in numbers!

 

[Jen D]

I've decided.... to wait. We'll see what happens.

 

[newholidayx2]

A friend, her daughter and I bought our tickets for March yesterday. $205 roundtrip from Boston to Orlando on Song out of Boston.
Not finding airfare yet for Aug or I may book that too for our family trip.

 

[grinningghost]

A friend, her daughter and I bought our tickets for March yesterday. $205 roundtrip from Boston to Orlando on Song out of Boston.
Not finding airfare yet for Aug or I may book that too for our family trip.

That's actually a good rate for right now. I wish Song flew out of Buffalo.

Unfortunately, the lowfare carriers that fly out of Buffalo (SW, JB) aren't releasing their July schedules for quite a while yet.

I found a US Airways fare of 218 RT and I might just take it.

 

[kelscross]

We're in the same boat for our Christmas trip. The fares have actually stayed the same from our airports. We have budgeted 250.00 a piece for the tickets and they're hovering around 330.00 . Of course we would like to catch a great deal, but the ding fares are just not hitting for us from our airports or any nearby. We're going to hold out until the end of the month and hopefully things will be under control.

Do I feel guilty about planning my Disney trip with the devestation...no. Like someone else said life has to go on. I feel for those people who have lost everything but my town knows destruction...complete destruction. We had our town completely wiped off the map in 1974 after a tornado. The destruction was unimaginable. It looked like a complete war zone. The national guard was brought out to stop the looting and it wasn't even from our locals. The looting was from people from other states would drive in with trucks and steal whatever they could find that wasn't rubble. Toilets, bathtubs, cabinets...whatever they could find. It was terrible. We had another major strike in 2000 which didn't level the entire town but the North end was destroyed.

We are a stronger town for it and life does go on. Continue to support the economy and go on your vacations.

Okay..I'm off the soap box...still waiting for a good airfare..ha!

 

[mowog]

We're going in Dec for week at BCV. I started looking at airfar a while ago and prices went up day I went to book. Kept an eye on airtran and the return dropped for the time we wanted so I booked it. Kept watching and the outgoing flight dropped to where I was happy. We actually could have saved $60 if I had waited but I'm happy.

I suggest you pick a number that you are happy with and book each way when you can get it for that price. Prices are bouncing around all over the place and changing day to day.

Have fun, Jean and Bob

 

[iteachlit]

We bought our tickets for a June 25, 2006 departure. I purchased the tickets August 10 at a rate of $188 round trip; this is on Delta from PIT-MCO, connecting in ATL.

The same flight is now $273. Looks like I made a good choice, unless the tix drop below $188 at some point.

I would buy now. Buying airline tickets is like buying a computer; buy what you can afford now, but realize that the price or features could change in a month.

Good luck.

 

[thelionqueen]

I would say buy now and relax. Worst case scenario, if you buy a non refundable, non-changable ticket and the prices go way down, you could pay the $100 fee and change the ticket.

Best case scenario, you have your ticket whether they go up or down. I bought ours 2 months ago because I saw the airfares were really low ($235 round-trip non-stop from Denver to MCO) and they have stayed the exact same price until Friday. You never know, but at least I got em'.

Let us know!

 

[Jen D]

Upthread I decided to take my chances and wait and not panic buy.

For Song in Feb from NYC, prices have been $158 round trip for the market, the current lowest price in that route. This is their standard lowest fare, but sale prices in this market often dip much lower. I toyed with buying earlier in the week when the crisis began, but did not.

Around Thursday the prices rose to $168 rt. I sort of chided myself for not buying, but decided rather than assume they will keep rising, I'll wait it out.

Today they returned to the regular $158 rt.

Honestly, maybe I'm playing with fire, but I'm still going to wait a few weeks. This is a highly competitive market and there are price drops quite often. Every time I plan for WDW I struggle on when to buy the tickets, and waiting has always paid off before. I usually buy about 2 months out and have paid a high of $141 and a low of $110 (all prices not including tax.)

The sale prices may not come back.... but I'm not sure, this being such a competitive market, prices are going to rise in a significant way. Another $10 spike I could handle.

I'll let you know how it works out for me! I may be sorry!