Help - need Airline Booking 101 advice

[mom2boys]

I am getting ready to book airfare for our family of 4 - 2 adults two kids 10 & 12 for our summer vacation - not Disney (hoping for that in Dec). We will be travelling from Washington Dulles (Baltimore/Washington or Washington Reagan ok too) to Albuquerque NM. We will be leaving on a Saturday in June & returning two wweks later - a July Saturday. Obviously we'd like a good price, but I also don't want any hassles or surprises. We haven't flown for at least 5 years so I'm looking for any advice/suggestions/input my DIS friends have to offer. So, what do I need to know?

 

[ktpool]

Sign up at Travelocity, Expedia, etc for their Fare Alerts and DING (if you have Southwest Airlines).

They will send you an email if your flights get in your price range. Also, by looking at the 'consolidated' fare sites, you will get a good idea of flight times and prices in one or two locations.

Also, if you are flexible because schools out, you can use Hotwire or Priceline to 'bid' on flights dirt cheap sometimes, but you CANNOT be picky about the time of day you arrive or leave, so you have to pick the absolute first and last times you want.

Good luck!

 

[bicker]

ktpool gave you some good advice with regard to the saving money part of your question. You also stated:

I also don't want any hassles or surprises.

Traveling by air in this environment of cut-throat price competition means hassles and suprises come as part of the deal. The only way you can reduce them is to pay a lot more, both in terms of the actual services you purchase (since many airlines treat their customers who paid more better than they treat those who paid less, in case of a schedule interruption) and in terms of the cost of travel insurance.

So your goals (good price, don't want any hassles or suprises) work against each other. I think most folks prefer to take their chances with the good price, and let the chips fall where they will with regard to hassles and surprises. Being prepared for them, knowing what your options are, and how to best exercise those options if you need to, is half the battle. That's the approach I'd recommend. Read the Contract of Carriage for the airline you choose. Know what you are and are not entitled to. Know who to call if you aren't getting what you are entitled to. Et cetera.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

use the search engines like Travelocity, Expedia or Sidestep to search for the lowest fare -- then go directly to the webpage of the lowest particular airlines to book. Usually the fare right on the airlines page will be slightly cheaper if you book it directly through them.

For Southwest you pretty much have to go directly to Southwest.com. If you are looking for reliability, Southwest is pretty much the top airline these days. I'm pretty sure they fly out of Reagan, but I don't know if they have a direct flight from REagan to NM. Southwest does alot of puddle hopping.

On their page you will see a sign-up for DING. Get that and watch it for a couple of days. The DING fares through June are just starting to appear. Also, with Southwest if you book a fare now, and then a cheaper fare becomes available through DING, they will issue you a credit for the price difference.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

For Southwest you pretty much have to go directly to Southwest.com. If you are looking for reliability, Southwest is pretty much the top airline these days.

They may be reliable but the past 2 times I've flown Southwest, they damaged our luggage and refused to do anything about it.

 

[mom2boys]

Thanks for all the great replies.

I guess I should clarify my low price, no hassle statement. I have seen flights from $214 to over $700 on the same route for our dates - all coach. Obviously I don't need to pay $700@ but if paying $250 instead of $214 (x4) is going to mean significantly less hassles, then I will gladly part with the extra $.

I feel like I'm in this huge crap shoot trying to get a good value on airfare while not gambling on whether we will actually get on the flight or if my kids will have to sit by themselves. (We can easliy live with each child sitting with one parent.) I am wondering if there is some magical best booking window of opportunity. Currently we are a little over 4 months from departure. Are fares likely to spike after a certain period of time?

 

[bicker]

but if paying $250 instead of $214 (x4) is going to mean significantly less hassles, then I will gladly part with the extra $.

Generally, it won't. Those two fares are probably the same fare class, and so look the same to the airline. The airlines that do treat higher-paying customers better are not going to make a distinction over $36 per ticket.

I feel like I'm in this huge crap shoot trying to get a good value on airfare

It is. And without paying big bucks, there is little we can do to make it anything but. If there was, it would be widely discussed and publicized in the media, and everyone would be competiting for it (assuming it was in short supply), thereby increasing its demand, consequently increasing its price. The system balances itself out, in short-order. There are no free lunches.

 

[SDFgirl]

You may want to check the prices out of BWI (Baltimore). They're usually significantly cheaper than out of Washington DC, and you can take a quick train ride from Union Station in DC right into the BWI airport.