Flights: So tempted to book, gambling with waiting?

[chimo2u]

I have been obsessively looking at West Jets website since my dates where released for my travel time (sept 28 2012 departure from Edmonton) and Oct 7 2012 return home from Orlando. The schedule I want is departing on Friday, sept 28 fly into Toronto, sleep over in the hotel ( gateway Sheraton /already booked) get some rest and then fly from Toronto to Orlando around 10:30 am Sat Sept 29, arriving refreshed for Disney at 1:09 pm /Orlando time

I have looked at the pricing throughout the yr, and this flight NEVER seems to drop, except a few times in January....West Jets seat sales seem few and far between....I am tempted to just buy , (at $369 currently) one way ( our going flights) now....because this flight can go as high as $500 or even higher a few times throughout the yr (like Christmas, spring break, etc...) the lowest I've seen it is $279 a few times in January.

I am tempted to book now for these outgoing flights (we need 3 tickets)....I am trying to decide if the potential $100 per ticket savings is worth waiting a few more months to see if they may go down or not. I am really stumped by how airfare seems to be staying relatively high this year....it is a gamble!

If I did this, then I would be keeping my eye on the return flights for discounts! It seems like buying tickets seperately or together as a return fare seems to make no difference anymore, so I guess it really doesn't matter if I buy my tickets at different times/ depending on various prices I can find.

Hmmmm, to wait or not to wait is my new dilemma!

 

[canadiankim]

I think if it was me, I would book now, whilst you have a fixed price for at least one leg of your journey and then don't look at the prices for that again!

Whilst you might save a few dollars waiting it is more likely that you will end up paying more then you will be kicking yourself.

You also have part of your trip with a firm budget too

Good luck

 

[Sue M]

If there has been a pattern of fares dropping in Jan, I'd wait. It make sense that fares drop in Jan, after the holidays to entice people to book. It's prob. a low booking time, everyone's spent their money at Christmas.

What we all need is a crystal ball to figure out when to book!!! I booked in Sept for our Jan 2012 trip. I booked in March 2011 for Aug 2011.
So I've found pretty good fares at around the 6 mo mark.

Good luck!

 

[papertraveller]

My experience has been to buy out of Pearson as soon as you can see a price that is palatable. They only seem to go up ... unless ... you're travelling on a Tuesday. You may well have seen a daily pattern on WestJet's flight pricing.

I will say that we have a trip planned for next Thanksgiving, and I started looking at airfare at the 11 month mark (when we booked DVC). The fares are just too high, compared with what we snagged this year. So it's off to Buffalo we go ...

 

[chimo2u]

My experience has been to buy out of Pearson as soon as you can see a price that is palatable. They only seem to go up ... unless ... you're travelling on a Tuesday. You may well have seen a daily pattern on WestJet's flight pricing.

I will say that we have a trip planned for next Thanksgiving, and I started looking at airfare at the 11 month mark (when we booked DVC). The fares are just too high, compared with what we snagged this year. So it's off to Buffalo we go ...

I wish I could fly out of Buffalo! Unfortunately, from Edmonton, I am stuck with AC or west jet....pretty much I want west jet for the schedule I am looking at! I hope the prices come down soon

 

[papertraveller]

I feel your pain. We used to live in Calgary, and it seemed we couldn't get anywhere direct. (Although since WestJet, things certainly have improved.)

In fact, at one point I had to make a business trip to Billings, Mont., and couldn't even get there. I had to fly all the way to Salt Lake City, and then back up to Billings.

 

[Daisy-J&D]

OMG... gulp.
Sorry to hijack your thread but you're looking for
flights for September 2012 NOW? We went this year and bought our flight in May (for September) and got a great deal ($1200 for 3 return tix, incl tax) The prices are so high compared that i figured we'd just wait. I guess I should be checking already??? Do you think from Toronto the prices won't go down?

 

[webworm]

I have been obsessively looking at West Jets website since my dates where released for my travel time (sept 28 2012 departure from Edmonton) and Oct 7 2012 return home from Orlando. The schedule I want is departing on Friday, sept 28 fly into Toronto, sleep over in the hotel ( gateway Sheraton /already booked) get some rest and then fly from Toronto to Orlando around 10:30 am Sat Sept 29, arriving refreshed for Disney at 1:09 pm /Orlando time

I have looked at the pricing throughout the yr, and this flight NEVER seems to drop, except a few times in January....West Jets seat sales seem few and far between....I am tempted to just buy , (at $369 currently) one way ( our going flights) now....because this flight can go as high as $500 or even higher a few times throughout the yr (like Christmas, spring break, etc...) the lowest I've seen it is $279 a few times in January.

I am tempted to book now for these outgoing flights (we need 3 tickets)....I am trying to decide if the potential $100 per ticket savings is worth waiting a few more months to see if they may go down or not. I am really stumped by how airfare seems to be staying relatively high this year....it is a gamble!

If I did this, then I would be keeping my eye on the return flights for discounts! It seems like buying tickets seperately or together as a return fare seems to make ns a volt difference anymore, so I guess it really doesn't matter if I buy my tickets at different times/ depending on various prices I can find.

Hmmmm, to wait or not to wait is my new dilemma!

I see return flights for $724 with Delta vs $934 with Westjet for those dates.

 

[Sue M]

OMG... gulp.
Sorry to hijack your thread but you're looking for
flights for September 2012 NOW? We went this year and bought our flight in May (for September) and got a great deal ($1200 for 3 return tix, incl tax) The prices are so high compared that i figured we'd just wait. I guess I should be checking already??? Do you think from Toronto the prices won't go down?

Yes, it's a good idea to start looking as soon as you know when you're going. Put in fare watches with what ever airlines you like to use-and start watching. You'll get a good idea of pricing, and what's a good fare. We've booked sometimes 8 mos ahead, but usually 5 - 6 mos ahead. Fares go up and down.

 

[Daisy-J&D]

Yes, it's a good idea to start looking as soon as you know when you're going. Put in fare watches with what ever airlines you like to use-and start watching. You'll get a good idea of pricing, and what's a good fare. We've booked sometimes 8 mos ahead, but usually 5 - 6 mos ahead. Fares go up and down.

thanks! I just went onto the AC website and the flight is $256 right now which is double what we paid this year. There is no way we'd lock in at THAT price. I just told DP I'd rather DRIVE!!

 

[chimo2u]

I see return flights for $724 with Delta vs $934 with Westjet for those dates.

Yes, but the schedules are crappy I want to fly from Edmonton to Toronto the night before ( to avoid the red eye and long layover from 6 am to 10:30 am dep to Orlando on the Sat morn.)

Then I want to take the 10:30 am flight to Orlando from Toronto Sat Sept 29....to get into Orlando by 1:00 pm, thereby having much of Sat left for the parks.

Flying home to Edmonton, Sunday Oct 7, I want to leave Orlando as late as possible to still get home at a decent hour. The flight I am looking at leaves Orlando at 2pm, connects thru Toronto, arriving in Edmonton around 8:50pm, or so.

 

[minnie mum]

Yes, but the schedules are crappy .

Unfortunately it seems like the cheapest flights also have the crappiest times. If you want to fly during the prime times and on the weekend, then you will pay a premium for that. That's one of the reasons I'm so happy that we're now retired: we can take advantage of cheaper midweek departures.

I doubt that we're going to see cheaper flights until the economy recovers and/or the price of oil comes down. And, pessimist that I am, I don't see that happening any time soon.