Help!! How far out should I book flight for the best deal??

[myfairygodmother]

I need some help from all of you frequent flyers out there! I have not flown in about 8 years so I am completely out of the air travel loop

I will be on Disney's Westbound repositioning cruise in May 2005 and will need to fly one-way from LAX(or other closeby airport) to CHS (Charleston,SC) on May 31st. Should I book this now or wait? If I wait, when should I book for the best possible fares? Also is there any particular time of day that is cheaper?? Unfortunately I do know that CHS is expensive to fly into--our only airlines are Delta, United, Continental, Northwest, and the new Independence Air.

Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[Esmerelda]

Personally,
I would wait until about 5-6 months before your trip. I think you will find you will get a great RT. The only way I would book now is if I had to have an EXACT time (but then the airlines changes those anyhow about 4-5 months out..lol) to fly out.

I have travelled many times via plane and have even done tickets 4 weeks out for vacation and gotten a good rate. As a matter of fact, I'm getting married next May and probably won't even look for tickets until after the first of the year to Hawaii.

(tip: download Sidestep and keep watching that site. Also, go to Expedia and Travelocity and do a fare watcher. They will email you each time YOUR specified fare drops and its free. Also, check out BestFares.com. Even if you aren't a member you can still read their stories and get some tips.)

happy planning,
Esmerelda

 

[cruiseonmagic]

Hi there,
I was a res supervisor for UAL for 4 yrs. Most airlines release their schedules 330-331 days out (right now ual's 330th day is may 31). I would give it another week(to include the saturday stay over--yeah right) then start checking weekly. You will probably end up finding a decent rt fare on delta because they fly larger planes than ual into chs. If you wait until 5 mos out like esmerelda suggests, ual will have sold out for flights the day after memorial day.

HERE'S WHY YOU SHOULD HOLD OFF FOR NOW-- The ual flights into CHS are United Express flights, operated by Atlantic Coast Airlines. GUESS who owns Independence Air? You got it--Atlantic Coast! ACA is in the process of cutting its ties with UAL. ACA is a regional carrier that has more flights out of washington dulles than ual.

I've checked a few flights and they were a ton cheaper on independence than ual. They even base their fares on the one-way cost. Right now Ind is still just a regional carrier, but they are expecting delivery of several airbus A-319 to begin service in november to florida and the west coast. These planes have leather seats, and satellite tv in every seat back.

I've flown ACA many times and have never had problems with them. I would check their website www.flyi.com every couple of weeks to see when they start booking their west coast flights.

Bill

 

[lkohawaii]

cruiseonmagic-Wow you're the person who might have my answers. I have a companion flies free coupon from UAL. Actually I have 2 of them. I will also be going on the Disney cruise in early June. I know in the next few weeks the rates will come out for my flights. Should I book as soon as I can being that it's after Labor Day or should I wait awhile. I don't know exactly how UAL treats those comapnion flies free coupons. I know though that I have to pay full published fare. Thanks in advance.

 

[cruiseonmagic]

Hi Ikohawaii,
I wish I could give you a definite answer to your question. UAL has so many rate classes, and several companion coupons. The web site lists economy with no restrictions, economy with lowest refundable fare, and lowest available fare (I don't have access to the fare structures any longer)

You will need to consider the fact that you'll be coming from one of the most popular vacation spots to the most popular vacation spot during peak season for WDW. I wouldn't think that the fares will be that low. Another thing to consider is will you be coming from HNL where there are several flights/day or one of the airports like LIH where there are 2 or 3?

I would call the UAL res line and start comparing the fares with and without your coupon. I checked a few dates just for the heck of it and found that it would be 400/ticket cheaper to buy the lowest available fare than it would be to get the lowest refundable fare with a coupon.

To save you some time, go to travelocity.com and sign up for fare watcher. They will send you emails when the price changes.

 

[goldilocks_63]

I'm looking for airline tickets from ORD to MCO over Spring Break 2005. I saw your note about 330 days, and will count backwards.

Can you tell me if the airlines always, or even mostly, change the rates around midnight on Tuesdays. I used to fly a lot, and it seemed like this was the time that the new rates were loaded, but don't know if I'm imagining things.

Thanks, Goldi

Looking for AA, UAL, SW, ATA, or SPirit.

 

[lkohawaii]

cruiseonmagic- Thanks for the insight. I'm flying out of HNL into SFO and then on to LAX. The Magic is coming into L.A. next summer. That's where we're headed too. We usually don't fly summers so don't know what flights are like. Like you said I'm flying out of a popular destination so fares probably won't go on sale. I'm one of those impatient travelers that can't rest until I have my ticket in my hands...so with that in mind I'll start checking rates (not going until June 2005) and buy a fare when I think it's at a good rate. I know nobody has a crystal ball when it comes to this kind of stuff. Thanks again.

 

[cruiseonmagic]

Hi,
You know what? I missed the date totally--sorry about that. I wasn't thinking. I checked a couple of flights into lax and the same thing applies. It is 400 cheaper to buy 2 economy fare tickets than to buy one get one on an unrestricted fare. Can't believe I missed those dates--I plan on being on the magic on the transition cruise.

 

[cruiseonmagic]

Hey Goldi,
I believe that SW and ATA are out of Midway only. I've seen some great fares on ATA ( I've checked for friends in Oak Lawn). Usually in the 160 rt area. During spring break I can's see it dropping by more than 30/ticket. The peace of mind knowing that I don't need to check on the web every day is worth that. I do believe the changes go into the computers late tues, early wed.

 

[Rpsemont]

myfairygodmother

one-way from LAX(or other closeby airport) to CHS (Charleston,SC) on May 31st

Frequently, the deals that come out for RT are not available for One way flights. I have never cruised before and usually would not recommend asking the cruise line about airfares, but since this is a one way, maybe they have a special deal?

I would also sign up for travelocity fare watcher or something similiar and monitor it for awhile.

Since I'm not familiar with the airlines mentioned above, it could be that there's some great advise there too. Some of the newer arilines don't have the one way high fares that the older "brand name" airlines do.

 

[cruiseonmagic]

Hi again,
Just to let you know, with Independence Air you are actually buying 2 one-way tickets. Pricewise it doesn't matter if you are going RT or not. Cruiselines will not have a deal on air 999 times out of 1000.

 

[lkohawaii]

cruiseonmagic- we wont' be boarding the Magic until 6/11 so I think we'll miss you by a few weeks. Anyway, I know people are going to think I should just PM you about this but here goes. What are the prices you're coming up with? I'm thinking I'm going to get a fare for about $700 so each one comes out to $350 ( with companion flies free tickets). Are you getting a $400 cheaper flight somewhere ( I think Travelocity) than my $700 ticket ( that's one full priced ticket well off UAL's website...in the past when I call in to book it's like a few dollars more). I can't get UAL to give me a price yet because I'm not returning unitl 6/18. I'm sorry you're getting so many questions because you were nice enough to let us know you used to work in reservations.

 

[MickeyEars]

cruiseonmagic- it's so nice of you to help us!!! I too have a question for you. I live in Southeastern Kentucky and I am about 90 minutes away from either Lexington or Knoxville. I was on the McGhee Tyson website just a few minutes ago and noticed that Independence Air will soon begin service out of Knoxville. Do they offer service to Orlando? If not, do they plan to? Please excuse all the questions it's just that in this area we are very limited as far as discounted airfare is concerned and I was hoping that Independence Air would be an option. We used to fly Air Tran out of Knoxville all the time but they pulled out of Knoxville and now Delta out of Lexington is just about as discounted as we get!!! Both Knoxville and Louisville (3 hour drive for us) are more expensive than Lexington. Any info you have would really be appreciated.

Thanks!

Carla

 

[sarahsmom73]

I was checking independence air last night out of Burlington and it doesn't seem to offer MCO now.. I did sign up for thier free program and it asked for 2 of our favorite destinations.. I put Orlando as number 1... Maybe in the fall....