I think I screwed up royally with my procrastination!

[Huff]

Try seeing what Kayak.com shows. They list almost all airlines except SW and JB. Fast way to compare fairs. Bing is similar and shows a prediction if you should buy or wait.

Another option is to see if two separate one way fairs is lower, even on two different airlines. For my upcoming trip this saved me quite a bit by taking Delta there, and returning on United.

 

[sam_gordon]

Try seeing what Kayak.com shows. They list almost all airlines except SW and JB. Fast way to compare fairs. Bing is similar and shows a prediction if you should buy or wait.

Another option is to see if two separate one way fairs is lower, even on two different airlines. For my upcoming trip this saved me quite a bit by taking Delta there, and returning on United.

I wouldn't trust Bing's predictor. When I was pricing out our June trip, Bing said there was an 80% chance prices would drop $50+. It showed that for 2-3 days. The next day, for the same flights, the prices had gone UP, AND Bing said there was an 80% chance prices would INCREASE $50+.

 

[bcbmommy]

Thank you all for your help and advice! We made the decision this morning to fly SW out of OKC. It'll be a bit of a drive, but living in the middle of nowhere, we're used to that. I was able to get 3 full flights on points, then bought a few more to use on a 4th, and paid out of pocket for the last 2! All said and done, $730 for 6 round-trip flights to Orlando!

 

[dis_guy]

Thank you all for your help and advice! We made the decision this morning to fly SW out of OKC. It'll be a bit of a drive, but living in the middle of nowhere, we're used to that. I was able to get 3 full flights on points, then bought a few more to use on a 4th, and paid out of pocket for the last 2! All said and done, $730 for 6 round-trip flights to Orlando!

Glad it all worked out for you, but booking airfare last minute is sure stressful isn't it? Last March, after a week of blizzards and getting stuck in snow drifts every other day, DW and I decided to make a last minute trip. I mean booking on Friday for a Saturday departure kind of last minute trip! Anyway we did manage to get flights at affordable (not as cheap as they could have been but we could live with it) rates but we had to fly with one airline going and another coming back and one of the legs was a redeye. But we did it.

Have a great vacation!

 

[mikehn]

I always let the air travel part of the trip lead the planning. Planning everything else that follows is a breeze.