I've really messed up! What should I do now?

[gusmydog]

I'm trying to book all aspects of our next WDW trip myself (trying to save a little $$$!). I've done everything well except this airline ticket thing!!! I've been holding out thinking the flight prices would drop and they just went up again yesterday (for the second time)! We're trying to fly out of either Charlotte or Greensboro, NC, on Sat., Nov. 30. Since I've been watching (around a month and a half), they've gone from $146/ticket to now $218/ticket. There are 5 of us flying so the difference is considerable. I could just kick myself for not booking immediately when I started this process!!!

Any suggestions on what to do now? Should I keep holding out or should I just book at $218 and consider it an expensive lesson learned?

I have no knowledge whatsoever about flight prices since we have always just gone through a travel agent. Will they just keep climbing higher or might they go back down again? Thanks for any help you can give me!

 

[kidzmom3]

I would say that you are getting very close to the time when you want to fly. That is a very popular weekend for travel and I would be afraid of not being able to get all 5 of you onto one flight. Good luck.

 

[disneyberry]

yikes!

i don't know much about the NC - Orlando airfare market, but if there's any chance the fares might go up even higher, then i would suggest just going ahead and booking them.

i know that airlines will usually give you a credit voucher if the fare for your same exact flights does happen to drop after you've already bought them.

i.e. if you buy some tix on US Airways for $218 now, and then a few weeks later you notice that the fare dropped to $146, you can call US Airways and ask them to give you a credit voucher for $72 per ticket.

normally these vouchers are only valid for use on flights 1-year from the date of issue. if you're not familiar with them, they work kind of like a gift certificate, except you can only use them towards future tickets for the person whose name was on the original ticket.

not all airfares qualify for this though, some internet-only fares, even if it does go down in price later, you might not be able to get a credit voucher.

hope this helps.

 

[Chuck S]

In today's market $146 r/t to ANYWHERE seems like a good deal - most fares I've priced have been about 33% higher than what we've paid in the past, some higher than that. Book NOW at $218, if you get lucky and the price drops ask for vouchers.

 

[ncligs]

We just got a voucher from US AIR for $72 yesterday. The flight we booked for Feb 2003, went down from the price I booked over the internet, so I called US AIR and they sent me a voucher for the difference.
disneyberry is correct, the voucher is only good for the person whos name is on the e-ticket, and for 1 year. The drawback of US AIR's policy is you can't use the voucher over the internet(US AIR website) , you have to do it at the airport. Continental's website allows you to use vouchers on there website, makes it very easy with Continental.

 

[dbutterfly]

I've been watching prices too. I passed up on a price of $179 per ticket for Easter break, waited too long ended up paying almost $300 each. I Have noticed that the prices are always higher on the weekend , they seem to come back down Monday or Tuesday. With this being a holiday weekend I would check again on Tuesday a.m. The tickets I bought the other day are priced at $439 this weekend. Good Luck.

 

[A kid at heart]

Nov 30th is part of hte holiday weekend. that is the most heavily traveled time of the yr. In fact the sunday after thanksgiving is the single most heavily traveled day of the year!

 

[4our4kids]

I too could kick myself for not booking a $166 flight last week. That same flight is now $271.00!!!! With 6 of us going ......I can't even think of it .........between waiting on airfare and any possible disc for Feb. I'm fixated on the computer!!

 

[zulaya]

Book it and take it as a lesson learned. First, you have to know what a "good" fare is from your airport. At MSP, if you get anything $200-$225 non stop you jump on it the minute it appears.

Start watching the fares as soon as they are available...it's something insanely weird like 334 days out from your return date. Watch them daily or more frequently if possible. Buy the first good fare you see and take vouchers if they drop.

Don't every bet on them dropping less than 2 months away, especially on Thanksgiving weekend. You are going to pay a premuim for that busy holiday season. Just keep it in mind for next time.

 

[ubetiski]

I just went to Yahoo and got a price of $146 per person from Greensboro. I did not check your other city though. I was not sure of your return date so I estimated one week. The flights were non-stop but were 6am on the outbound and 9:45pm on the return.

There is a trick to YAHOO.

DON"T PUT IN YOUR TRAVEL DATES.

Go to Yahoo.com and click on Travel. Do not enter the air info on this page. Click on Flights at the top of the screen. This is where you put the info in. Put in the citys. Under that...check off that your dates are flexible. Then choose Delta or another carrier and you can select your dates. I played with a few dates and they all gave me the $146 per person. Other airlines may offer other flight times. I always go through Yahoo. Usually I go there to find the flight info I want, then book it on the airlines website which usually has the same price. Good luck and let is know how it turns out. E-mail me if you need help. I love hunting for a bargain. Gambled with priceline yesterday and got Swan for $80 a night for 10/24. GOOD LUCK!!!

One last option. Try booking two separate reservations. Sometimes only a portion of the tickets you need are available for the cheaper fare. If only three tickets are available for the cheaper fare and you need 5, the airline will give you whatever fare has 5 seats available....and all five at the higher rate. Try booking separately but best to do this on the phone with the airline to ensure everyone makes it on the same flight.

 

[jctwizzer]

Assuming you're getting a rental car, try Greensboro to Tampa. Connection in Atlanta, but Delta had some lower fares.....good luck.

also,,,just saw a much better fare greensboro to orlando on Travelocity, via Delta

 

[Prince Eric1]

I watched the airfare for when i wanted to take my family in Jamuary go from about 140 up to 198. I read an article that said the best time to buy airfare is Tuesday night, Wed. morning, about 1:00am, because thats when the decreases start. I watched and thats what happened, i wound up getting tickets for 134 from southwest. Check southwest regularly, i watched an article on the news that says southwest is now setting the precident for the other airlines prices. Also, don't just look up what it says the specials are on the websites, you have to go to the reservations and enter your dates and times to get the true prices and discounts. Good luck.

 

[Music Mole]

The same thing happened to me - the fares went up $67 each plus my dates had been "blacked out" for the cheaper fares. Then I was on the phone with Delta (for my boss at work) and while she was working on his stuff, the lady pulled up the exact flights on the exact days that I wanted - she said the plane was only 20% sold. She said, based on that, that there should be a sale. So I consulted with my husband, we decided to wait - and sure enough, they were back down to $200 RT with all my travel dates available this morning. We just came back from a trip with $154 each and that had made $200 seem high - now I have booked at $200 and am happy.

So maybe call the airline and see how full your flights are to help you decide how comfortable you are with waiting. Good luck!

 

[gusmydog]

Thanks so much for all your replies! After reading them this morning, I decided to go ahead and book our tickets at $218/each and just consider it an expensive lesson learned. I decided that (at your advice!!) if the cost of the flight went down I would just try to get a credit voucher. Well, you'll never believe what happened!!!

I got on Delta's website to book and, lo and behold, our flight had come back down to $156!!! I NEVER, NEVER have luck like this! I was so shocked I couldn't do anything for a few minutes! Needless to say, I immediately booked right then and there.

For those of you who so generously helped me get flight costs... just wanted to let you know the reason I didn't book the $146 flight that day was because I have a 3 and a 5 yr. old who would have never made it to the airport for a 6:00 am flight! Also, we live at least 2 hours away from the airport. So that particular flight time just wouldn't work for us. I was trying for (and got!!!) a 1:20 pm flight!

Again... thanks to everyone who replied! This story had a happy ending!

 

[mryder]

Good news on the great airline fare. I am flying out of Wilkes-Barre, Pa that same weekend. I saved over $60 per ticket (3 of us) leaving Friday evening at 6PM instead of Saturday morning. If you are a little flexible you can usually same some money