Flight help! UPDATE :)

[BWgirl]

New to this...trying to plan a surprise trip for my husband in July!

Searching for airfares from MLI to MCO 7/23-7/29 and the lowest fare is 281 and the schedule sucks!! I really want to be in Orlando by 12noon or 1pm and flying out afternoon.

I saw a post about waiting for fares to drop late Tues/early Wed...is this true? If so, what sites are you watching? Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity...or the airline's own sites??

HELP!! CLUELESS!!

 

[Goof]

IMHO, i wouldn't wait too much longer for the fares to go down. With the price of gas and jet fuel on the rise, the airlines are more likely to continue pushing the fares upward. Just my opinion. If you feel the fares are within reason now, go ahead and book. If they go down, you can get a travel for the difference. I purchased our tickets in late 2003 for July at $138 and they have skyrocketed to over $220 now.

Again, just my opinion

 

[BWgirl]

This is the latest I have ever waited to book I usually plan way ahead but this was a spur of the moment idea.

Right now, with the schedule I want the fare is $329. If I bend a little and go with a schedule that still isn't too bad its $290. This just seems like an absurd amount of money for plane tickets!!

I was thinking I should wait until Tues/Wed and if the fares don't go down, book either one of the fares above.

I would typically go ahead and book the $329 one but, the codes are not out yet for the time I'm going and I'm kind of banking on those...if I buy the $329 airfare and no codes, I've waaay overspent

 

[Goof]

it's all a guessing game and a little luck at the right time. Do what you feel comfortable with. If that $329 fare goes up and you still have no codes, then you're still off. I don't know what airlines you are looking at but you might check out Airtran or even JetBlue and see if they fly out of MLI. These airlines have typically been known for excellent fares.

Good Luck!

 

[DebbieB]

It's a gamble. The flights I wanted for USAir for May were $692 per ticket (PIT/MCO)! I could get $213 if I wanted to return at 8:30am, which I really didn't want. I decided to wait since the afternoon flight had many empty seats according to the charts on american express travel. About 10 days ago it went down to $251! I bought them (3 tickets). I checked it again the next day and they were back up to $692! They must have released a few seats for the lower price and I grabbed them! It's crazy! That was a Friday morning.

 

[auntie2jaylynn]

I booked through Delta last year from Detroit to MCO, and got a great fare of $147 round trip It just depends on the day and the time of day you book sometimes. The same flight went up to $351 the next day, and then a week later it was back down to $147. I guess I was just lucky that I checked at that moment!!!

 

[muntzfab4]

BWgirl,

Just booked today for July 23 - 31 through the Song website (an affiliate of Delta) and got a fare of 189.45 from LGA to MCO. Like you I have been watching fares for 2 months, checking all the sites. Got the times I wanted, too! I had decided I would book this week no matter what. I just lucked out.

Good luck!

 

[BWgirl]

No such luck for me!!

Well here is what I've decided to do. Northwest has a REALLY good flight schedule for $319 pp...I'm going to wait until tomorrow night late/early Wed to see if any fares go down. If not, I'm going to purchase the NWA ones.

Cross your fingers for me!

 

[BWgirl]

GUESSSSSSSSS WHATTTTTT????

I just checked Orbitz and the price for the "ok" schedule is $257 and the one I really wanted is $296!!!

 

[auntie2jaylynn]

Whoo hoo!!! Good for you!!!

 

[BWgirl]

Ok....story to tell

So I go on Orbitz....ALL the airlines have $257 I'm thinking....fare sale?? Not sure. So I choose the $257 one (the "ok" itinerary) and I walk through the steps of a purchase....thinking it saves me $80 total to go with the "ok" itinerary so just go for it...I go to purchase and it says "Due to the popularity of this schedule, this fare is no longer available"

So I'm figuring that they are probably in the midst of changing the fare prices right now because when I refreshed all the prices had changed again. LUCKILY I logged into NWA.com and got the GOOD schedule for $296 pp. I'm satisfied...my goal was under $300

Now the question is....the flight out was 4:45 pm...will I be able to do a late checkout or have bell services store my luggage until we are ready? Guess I better head to the resort board!!

Thanks for your help guys!!

 

[Goof]

got the GOOD schedule for $296 pp. I'm satisfied...my goal was under $300

Glad it worked out for you. Hope your surprise to your DH is a wonderful experience. Have a good trip

 

[muntzfab4]

Great for you! The resort will store your luggage after checkout until you leave.

 

[BWgirl]

Kind of ruined my joy this morning when I logged onto Orbitz to find that the other itinerary was back at $257. My luck

 

[gw_lit]

You never know.... there may have only been one seat available at that price. If you try to book two seats, it will go to the next (higher) price with two seats available. I booked a trip last month on Southwest for our family of 4 and made two separate reservations and got two seats at a lower price, and two seats at a slighty higher price. If I would have booked all four seats together, it would have been the higher price for all of them.


Airfare pricing is a strange game, I do a lot of traveling and can never figure it out!