I haven't got plane tickets for September yet, should I be worried?

[tc]

Dh keeps telling me to wait because he thinks they may go down again. Right now they are at $350 or so. Last year I got it at a little less than $200 for September 14 (of course, we didn't go a head and use them because of 9/11, we were refunded and then drove.) We are going 9/07 to 9/15. Does anyone think this is cutting it too close? Should I start panicing now? Or, should I trust Stephen and wait a bit to see if they go down for September?

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Usually the closer you get to your flight time the more those tickets go up. Airlines have a strange way of doing business, there are a certain number of tickets set aside at many different price tiers. The airlines start with the cheapest and as those are sold, they go up to the next tier. Of course then there are some other factors, are you flying out of a big airport with lots of competition or a smaller one with few airlines and fewer seats? I would go ahead and lock into a ticket for now, if the price goes down most of the big carriers will give you a refund in the form of a voucher to be used for future travel (usually to be booked within a year).

 

[Bill From PA]

We use USAir so I go to their web site to check prices and availability. We usually plan way ahead so I start looking 6 months or more in advance and check prices almost daily. We're flying in Nov. from a small airport in Pa. for $232 each round trip and we bought the tickets sometime in the spring. The same ticket now costs $254 and I never saw it lower than the price I got it for. All I can say from experience is that USAir from Pa to MCO had their lowest prices months ago. I'd be jumping on the best you can get now. Once before I had the price go down $50 per ticket and USAir gave us vouchers for the difference which we used on our next trip.

Bill From PA

 

[Redmic]

I'm playing the waiting game, too. We are going on October 5th, and I believe we will be able to hit a sale before then. United dropped prices today, hopefully others will follow suit!

 

[Lucky4me]

tc, the summer sales are out now. I doubt anything cheaper will come up between now and your dates. (but you never know) The next sale that comes up will most likely be for October-November travel. Most of the ones availible now are through Sept. 29th.

I'd call a travel agent and have them do the looking for you at this point. You may be able to hook up with a tour for a lower airfare than what's advertised. GOod luck!

 

[dalt01]

i live in willamsport pa and also watch the usair site, i got nervous near the end of july about prices and booked out of harrisburg pa (75 miles away) for 165.00 pp instead of waiting for my local airport to go down. lucky me, it went up to 254.00 per person and the one i booked went up to 205.00 pp just three days after i paid for it. we go every year and watch this stuff pretty close and i think you had better take what you can get now and take your voucher if it goes down. its all logic, the closer to a target date the more seats are filled so they have no incentive to reduce a price


september 28 to oct 8,ASM and POR

 

[Miss Jasmine]

oh TC, I just thought of another thing, a lot of airlines a week prior to September 11 will be cutting back their schedules. That's another reason I would go ahead and book now, there aren't as many flights available.

 

[scarlett873]

as a former travel agent, i wouldn't advise waiting too long...typically, the closer you get to your departure date, the higher the prices. airlines do their prices strangely, but to get the best fares, you should book your flights at least 21 days ahead. some airlines, you can get away with waiting until 14 days out, but i would never cut it that close...and with you flying around sept 11, the airlines will be cutting their schedules down. those flights that may seem available now, may not be once they are done with their schedules. those folks that are on a flight that will be cut will have to be reaccomodated on another flight.

we are also flying at that time...we'll be leaving indianapolis on sep 9 and returning on the 15th. hopefully, the nonstop delta flight that we have confirmed will remain nonstop!!

 

[tc]

Thanks everyone, I think I'll call my travel agent and see what she can do for me. I guess I'd better hurry since I am only about a month away from leaving.

 

[zurgswife]

Another vote that they probably won't be going down again before Sept....good luck

 

[Towncrier]

I will never be able to figure out the airlines. On our most recent trip to WDW, I saw that there were last minute fares available from Cleveland to Orlando for $116 per person roundtrip. This was with one week advance purchase. And yet I haven't been able to find flights for this November for less than $200 per person. And trust me. I've been looking for quite some time.

I've had the best luck with Orbitz. We fly USAirways quite often and the fares on Orbitz are often cheaper than buying directly from USAir. It's enough to drive you batty.

 

[A kid at heart]

The amount of bookings will determine the price fo the flights. if they are heavily booked then more than likely no lower prices, if they are pretty open then yes, there is a definite possibility of low fares coming out. It just may not be on the particular flight time that you want. more than likely it will be on times that aren't popular for travel.

 

[rcomputer]

Our usual airline Continental are reducing service to Orlando from Newark and Cleveland (the two hubs we travel through) as of September 3rd by about a third. This gives us even fewer flights to choose from than last fall.
We have had to move to earlier flights for both Halloween and the Disney marathon as the evening flights have been cancelled.

I do not keep a close enough note of the other airlines to know whether they are doing the same but it is not uncommon for them to at least be similar. Reduced capacity will mean fewer fare sales and only 1 or 2 seats at each price per plane.