EEK! Airfare climbing!

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I haven't been in a rush to book airfare for our trip in October because I figured if we had to change the dates I would be stuck paying $100 per ticket for changes. The ticket prices had been the same for several months.

Today I started fiddling with the idea of flying in on Friday night instead of Saturday morning. Checked the flights and they have gone up! Not up drastically, but up about $10 per ticket. Increase cost of trip by $30...

Now I am worried about waiting, and I am worried that I need to decide NOW about that Friday vs. Saturday arrival thing. Which means I have to decide whether or not to add on another night of hotel, which adds another day of dining package, which increases the cost of the trip by another $175 in addition to the increase in airfare.

HELP! I NEVER buy airline tickets so I have no clue what to expect with fares going up or down or whatever. We have to buy airline tickets no matter what. The question is pay now or pay later? I really wanted to wait to buy the tickets but what if they keep going up?

 

[zulaya]

Yesterday, NWA raised prices on all its routes. $5 each way on trips less than 1000 miles and $10 each way on trips more than 1000 miles. I know that American matched it, and it could be other airlines did too.

NWA said it did it because of the busy spring season and it hoped to offset fuel costs. I am sure it's more about offsetting fuel costs.

The price of flying...supply and demand.

 

[elgerber]

I looked at Sun Country for October on Sat. night, and by Sunday the price had gone up $20 a ticket. UGH. I bought them last night, because based on my experiences last October, it's only going to get worse.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Aha! Well, that explains the price increase. Perhaps I will wait a little longer. DH was not very happy that I wanted to discuss Friday night vs. Saturday morning arrival eight months before the trip, so I'll just not get my knickers in a knot over the airfare until later. Later, like August!

 

[my3kids]

My tickets just doubled in price!

 

[sc9500]

My Continental tixxs went from $235 to $305 !

 

[pumpkinboy]

Since we're going for Columbus Day weekend and wanted to fly home on the Monday (Columbus Day proper) we booked in January for our October flights. And we are glad we did, since the flights at the times we wanted are mostly sold now and the tix are much higher in price.

My advice when airfare shopping is tho know what price you would be willing to pay and watch the airfare several times a week; then if fare move below your price point, nail them then. Of course, if your flights are still mostly empty, then there may still be room for downward price movement. Just watch those prices and be ready to pounce on a good deal.

 

[MPLsDad]

My American Airlines flights went from 155.40 (which we booked on 1/29) to 200.40!!!! We booked earlier this year, because last year we booked in July and ended up with a stopover from NYC for about 225.00 - now we're just waiting to hear the official word for MNSSHP to happen during our trip!!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Well, I guess the thing to remember is that if I have to make changes to the tickets after I buy them it WILL cost $100 per ticket plus any additional fare. So the tickets could go up another $90 EACH and I would still be in the same place I would be if I had booked them earlier and had to change them. I am just really uncomfortable about booking the air so far in advance KNOWING it will cost a lot to change them. (We always fly American, so those are the fares I am watching.) The fares hadn't changed in four months, so I figured they would stay where they were. Stupid, stupid. Now I guess I will have to get on the American site every day like I get on the DIS boards!

 

[vossjemi]

I'm going in Sept and haven't booked my air yet. But, I'm not stressing. SWA hasn't even come out with their rates yet. It seems I usually get a pretty good deal about 4-5 months out.

 

[welovedis]

I think sometimes it is a matter that the other poster mentioned. For some of us there is a limit to what we want to pay for airfare and when we see that rate, we go for it. If you aren't willing to make the choice now then you may be stuck with an "EEK! rate" when the time comes to make your decision.

Last Oct we flew (not to WDW though) and I couldn't believe how expensive the tickets were. It was a super busy at every airport (we went on 2 trips), especially on the weekends. If this year is any indication your fare prices are only going up.

GL with your decision!

 

[vossjemi]

Well, I guess what I'm saying is my rates in my small town airport aren't low enough yet to get me to bite. If they don't go any lower, or go higher, then I'll just fly out of one of the 3 bigger towns near me (but all 3 require a 3 hour drive...YUCK!!!) I'd love to fly from home, but its rare. So, since SWA hasn't come out with their fares yet, I feel I don't have anything to compare the other rates at. But, if she wants AA and only AA, then go ahead and book at a price you feel comfortable paying. Another option is to try and priceline it at a rate you can live with. Just be aware the travel times may not be what you like and you could could end up with any of their listed carriers.

 

[G00fyDad]

Tickets for our flight have gone up $22 each. Thats an $88 change. Whew!

 

[Pinnie]

On Wednesday, I booked a seat on SPIRIT from DTW-MCO in June for $89 each way. On Thursday, the same flights went up to $104.

I can't believe I bought tickets on SWA for a flight from DTW - BNA for almost $200. Gone are the days that I used to pay $110!

It seems the only cheap fare I was able to lock into for the summer is a flight from Vegas to Orange County on SWA for $39 in July!

pinnie

 

[dznyacct]

I have been watching airfare for Indianapolis to Orlando for our "girls only" trip (me, my 78 year old mom, my sister and my niece) in June for several weeks. We needed non-stop since my sister is a nervous flyer and my niece has never flown before. My mom doesn't like SWA because of no assigned seats (and they are flying home a week before me - I just CAN'T get enough of WDW!!!). I was feeling VERY uncomfortable about using ATA given all their recent troubles and changes, although I have been a very loyal customer and flown them several times to Orlando. So that left NWA. I was on their website Monday morning and the non-stop flights we wanted (actually the only non-stop flight they had each day) were $136.90 round trip. I had "budgeted" $150 for airfare, so I was very happy to come in under budget (can you tell I'm an Accountant!). Just for the heck of it, I checked NWA's website today and found that our tickets would now be $211.90 round trip, aaacccckkk!!! I am sooooo glad that something told me to check/book on Monday. What a relief to check that off my "to do" list. Good luck to everyone still needing to book.

 

[elgerber]

I can't believe I bought tickets on SWA for a flight from DTW - BNA for almost $200. Gone are the days that I used to pay $110!



pinnie

Oh my, I would do cartwheels if I ever got airfare to MCO from Minneapolis for $200 (and I have never been able to do a cartwheel ). If we get under $300 from here it's decent!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Yikes!!

Some of you have really had HUGE jumps in price! As far as I can tell the price increase was exactly what an earlier poster said - $10 per ticket increase to offset fuel costs. I checked again just now and the prices are still the same that they were yesterday, and the price is the same whether we fly Friday evening or Saturday morning.

There are still a lot of variables that can really impact our time. We are planning to use Magical Express, but I would LOVE to see some actual feedback before we decide Friday vs. Saturday arrival. The other thing is DH starts a new job on March 7. It will be awhile before we know what his schedule looks like - he has to complete several weeks of training and then get comfortable in his new position. As he learns the ropes his speed will increase. That will be a huge factor in determining if we should leave Friday night. It is fine to say we will go after school, but if DH isn't finished at work then we have a huge problem! Once we arrive at the resort we will have to get settled with room keys and dining plan and whatever, and if Magical Express is taking a long time then Friday night would be better. I would rather wait for a bus and fool around with tickets and keys and whatnot on Friday night rather than on Saturday while the parks are open!

Has anyone ever actually done tickets with Priceline? I think I am too chicken to do that since we really need pretty specific flight times. And they don't show you your flight info until AFTER you pay, correct? Yep, that could be a disaster!

 

[Savin4Disney]

this is my first time flying with DS (13) he has flown before and so have I. But this is our first vacation. When I started really thinking of this last year. I decided that I would not pay more than $250 each for us.

I watched Midwest Express and NWA both had direct flights. I also watched other airlines. This year when it got close to me having the money for tickets.

I saw midwest at 212.40 and nwa at 312. Well when I could book a week later Midwest had jumped to 217.40 and NWA was still at 312. I also looked at cheaptickets, expedia etc. could not find anything lower that 223.00 most ran 300 and 400. So I took midwest at 217.40.

I just checked my flights and they are at 242.01 so I saved $49.22 on air. Which just so happens to pay for the 2 lugguage pieces I bought today at 19.97 each.

So as a first time planner. I guess my advice is if you are 100% sure you are going. Buy your air when you find a price you like.

 

[welovedis]

Yikes!!

Some of you have really had HUGE jumps in price! As far as I can tell the price increase was exactly what an earlier poster said - $10 per ticket increase to offset fuel costs. I checked again just now and the prices are still the same that they were yesterday, and the price is the same whether we fly Friday evening or Saturday morning.

There are still a lot of variables that can really impact our time. We are planning to use Magical Express, but I would LOVE to see some actual feedback before we decide Friday vs. Saturday arrival. The other thing is DH starts a new job on March 7. It will be awhile before we know what his schedule looks like - he has to complete several weeks of training and then get comfortable in his new position. As he learns the ropes his speed will increase. That will be a huge factor in determining if we should leave Friday night. It is fine to say we will go after school, but if DH isn't finished at work then we have a huge problem! Once we arrive at the resort we will have to get settled with room keys and dining plan and whatever, and if Magical Express is taking a long time then Friday night would be better. I would rather wait for a bus and fool around with tickets and keys and whatnot on Friday night rather than on Saturday while the parks are open!

Has anyone ever actually done tickets with Priceline? I think I am too chicken to do that since we really need pretty specific flight times. And they don't show you your flight info until AFTER you pay, correct? Yep, that could be a disaster!

Wow, you really do have a lot of variables for your trip. Perhaps you are better off waiting with all the things that really affect your trip.

As far as Priceline goes, we only use them when we are doing an adult only trip, not with our DS. This is because he has a form of autism and we would not want to be at the mercy of the carrier, we'd rather fly with who we know, etc... and the fact that the flight times can be less than desireable. We've taken a few short trips and have really not had a "bad" experience, more like flying out earlier/later than we would have liked and not being able to sit next to each other-that type of thing. I'm not sure if that would be the best choice for you with your schedule limitations, etc...

Airfare can be a challenging part of the trip sometimes, especially if you have some things that need to be settled beforehand and it doesn't allow you to book this far ahead. I really do wish you luck in your choice--hope things don't go up too much for ya!

 

[vossjemi]

I've also read that airfare generally rises in price on fri/sat/sun bookings, but that the airlines lower prices on tues/wed. Its cyclical due to competition. I tried priceline but it didn't accept my bid. I too was nervous about the times and figured they'd give me a late night flight or something, so when I bid, I bid a day early. LOL. I'm going to keep trying to see if I can get good air from my hometown off priceline, but if not, then I guess I'm stuck driving 3 hours to KC or STL when SWA prices come out.