Must step away from the laptop.

[joolz1910]

I booked a flydrive with TCD for £4177 and now the same deal is on with Virgin I could have got cashback and V Room if I had booked with Virgin.

Am I the only masochist who constantly checks to see if they could have got a better deal? Why do I do it? When the flights come out later in the year, I will probably drive myself insane.

 

[DLPDreams]

I totally understand and I'm just the same if it's any consolation .

I still think you got a great price for the 5 of you. I have a feeling there won't be many sub £800 pp direct flights next year in summer hols.

When you booked you said yourself you felt better they were booked and you were 'definitely' going. You can also begin to budget better etc.

Booking flights any time is a gamble. I honestly think you got a good deal, if you could get slightly better today, so be it, they'll probably have increased to more than what you have paid by tomorrow . I also hear so many times of people seeing the 'deal of the century' on flights, getting to booking page/payment page and they've shot up £100s with live booking!

At least this way, you are sorted and have your seats . And, you certainly haven't paid over the odds for them .

 

[wilma-bride]

I doubt you're the only one who does check but I don't do it for that specific reason. Once it's booked, who cares what the prices do? Why torture yourself

 

[joolz1910]

I totally understand and I'm just the same if it's any consolation .

I still think you got a great price for the 5 of you. I have a feeling there won't be many sub £800 pp direct flights next year in summer hols.

When you booked you said yourself you felt better they were booked and you were 'definitely' going. You can also begin to budget better etc.

Booking flights any time is a gamble. I honestly think you got a good deal, if you could get slightly better today, so be it, they'll probably have increased to more than what you have paid by tomorrow . I also hear so many times of people seeing the 'deal of the century' on flights, getting to booking page/payment page and they've shot up £100s with live booking!

At least this way, you are sorted and have your seats . And, you certainly haven't paid over the odds for them .

Thanks I think it's because my whole life is being a bargain-hunter. I check the price of almost everything I buy lol. Our family income isn't great, so every penny counts. Having said that, I'm still glad to be going and I never begrudge any money I spend on a holiday.

I doubt you're the only one who does check but I don't do it for that specific reason. Once it's booked, who cares what the prices do? Why torture yourself

I know, I know lol.
I need to give myself a good talking to.

 

[wayneg]

Always check prices, even though I booked weeks ago I still get an email every morning with prices from Kayak. I need to know for future years if I booked at the right time. Worst I ever did was booking a flight to LAX using miles & money, they then had a sale and dropped prices about £50pp lower than I paid and could have saved 6,000 miles.

I wouldn't be bothered about Vroom in the slightest. We use lounges if flying business class because they are included but I find we get to the airport earlier just to use it. No lounge and we get there at a better time with just enough time to board.

 

[Elise79]

I thought you were using a TA Joolz? In which case walk away and let her do her job

I, like Wayne, however get my Kayak alert every day - I like to know I have done the right thing - only once have I been upset. Still its all knowledge for next year

 

[2Tiggies]

I have become better every year at not going back and looking. Although like Tracy and Wayne, I do still like to keep an eye on the trends, I look with the next trip's anticipated dates in mind. The only time I go back and check my dates is if I see someone post a link on here and I get nosy

My approach is that there will always be someone who pays more for a trip like mine than I do; and there will always be someone who gets it for less. I can live with that if I could live with the price I committed to book at. It's taken me a while to get to this stage though and I don't think I will ever 'never look'. It's human nature to want to know in hindsight if you did the right thing

 

[joolz1910]

Always check prices, even though I booked weeks ago I still get an email every morning with prices from Kayak. I need to know for future years if I booked at the right time. Worst I ever did was booking a flight to LAX using miles & money, they then had a sale and dropped prices about £50pp lower than I paid and could have saved 6,000 miles.

I wouldn't be bothered about Vroom in the slightest. We use lounges if flying business class because they are included but I find we get to the airport earlier just to use it. No lounge and we get there at a better time with just enough time to board.

Good point about the lounge. We are thinking of saving money by driving up to Manchester the morning of the flight so that we don't have to pay for a hotel, so the later we arrive, the more sleep we'll have.

I thought you were using a TA Joolz? In which case walk away and let her do her job

I, like Wayne, however get my Kayak alert every day - I like to know I have done the right thing - only once have I been upset. Still its all knowledge for next year

I was going to book with Val (TA) but she was very honest and told me that she could not match the price that TCD had, so I booked DIY for that part of my trip. I am hoping to book the Disney part with her though.

I have become better every year at not going back and looking. Although like Tracy and Wayne, I do still like to keep an eye on the trends, I look with the next trip's anticipated dates in mind. The only time I go back and check my dates is if I see someone post a link on here and I get nosy

My approach is that there will always be someone who pays more for a trip like mine than I do; and there will always be someone who gets it for less. I can live with that if I could live with the price I committed to book at. It's taken me a while to get to this stage though and I don't think I will ever 'never look'. It's human nature to want to know in hindsight if you did the right thing

That's a good point - I was prepared to pay £4000 for 5 flights (direct), so it wasn't too much more. I will check again when flights are released because I am a fool, but at least I know I have flights.

 

[2Tiggies]

I was prepared to pay £4000 for 5 flights (direct), so it wasn't too much more. I will check again when flights are released because I am a fool, but at least I know I have flights.

That alone is often a good enough reason to give me a bit of peace with paying a little more than I might have. Granted, I haven't been looking specifically so I don't know, but my flights have not come down in price that I've seen. However, say they did come down by £100 today. I booked in August. The thought of having had to sit worrying for another 6 about getting affordable flights would justify an extra £100 for me!

 

[Elise79]

I was going to book with Val (TA) but she was very honest and told me that she could not match the price that TCD had, so I booked DIY for that part of my trip. I am hoping to book the Disney part with her though.

Honestly - if you have booked the flights yourself - just book it all You've done the hard part and then you have complete control over it all

 

[wayneg]

That alone is often a good enough reason to give me a bit of peace with paying a little more than I might have. Granted, I haven't been looking specifically so I don't know, but my flights have not come down in price that I've seen. However, say they did come down by £100 today. I booked in August. The thought of having had to sit worrying for another 6 about getting affordable flights would justify an extra £100 for me!

You know me, I like a bargain
But I agree, flights for this July I could have waited for a better price, I decided to save myself a load of hassle and book. I paid £625pp, about £150pp more than I hoped for indirect but they are direct on VA & exact dates I wanted.

 

[joolz1910]

That alone is often a good enough reason to give me a bit of peace with paying a little more than I might have. Granted, I haven't been looking specifically so I don't know, but my flights have not come down in price that I've seen. However, say they did come down by £100 today. I booked in August. The thought of having had to sit worrying for another 6 about getting affordable flights would justify an extra £100 for me!

Yes, that's me exactly! I could not cope with looking at flight prices 3 times a day in September. I am sooooo indecisive and I wanted the most expensive part of my trip accounted for.

Honestly - if you have booked the flights yourself - just book it all You've done the hard part and then you have complete control over it all

I could book it myself and will if I can get a better deal but I would much rather book with Val because she is amazingly helpful and a good friend. Will see when the deals are released in April.

 

[scottish mum]

I constantly check the prices of flights I have booked, so far I have been lucky and they have only gone up!! I took a risk and booked with Flythomascook before Virgin released their prices. If I had waited I would have paid round about the same price, virgin was only £10 more so I probable would've picked them, BUT I booked in June and virgin I wouldn't have been able to book until Nov and I would have spent that months worrying if I had done the right thing.

Peace of mind is sometimes worth more than any potential saving

 

[bex7583]

once i had booked our flights i never checked them again .

there were lots of other stages in the planning where i did lots of looking and not much decision making that things went in the opposite direction and went up in price !! so it can work both ways

and am sure if you took the decision to book it then you had found a price you were happy with at the time and was affordable to your budget

 

[joolz1910]

once i had booked our flights i never checked them again .

there were lots of other stages in the planning where i did lots of looking and not much decision making that things went in the opposite direction and went up in price !! so it can work both ways

and am sure if you took the decision to book it then you had found a price you were happy with at the time and was affordable to your budget

You are completely right but I can't help worrying that I have missed out on a bargain!

 

[Ware Bears]

Definitely best not to look once they're booked! I spent a whole year monitoring flights in readiness for our trip last year - not once did they fluctuate more than £10 pp so when our window opened we booked. Continued watching them feeling quite smug that I'd done the right thing then stupid me looked when there was a sale after Christmas and they were nearly £100 pp cheaper quite a bit when there's 5 of you.

This year they've not fluctuated again nor been reduced in the post Christmas sales but you can guarantee that if I book early they will ..... but I won't be looking to find out. Ignorance can be bliss.

 

[joolz1910]

Definitely best not to look once they're booked! I spent a whole year monitoring flights in readiness for our trip last year - not once did they fluctuate more than £10 pp so when our window opened we booked. Continued watching them feeling quite smug that I'd done the right thing then stupid me looked when there was a sale after Christmas and they were nearly £100 pp cheaper quite a bit when there's 5 of you.

This year they've not fluctuated again nor been reduced in the post Christmas sales but you can guarantee that if I book early they will ..... but I won't be looking to find out. Ignorance can be bliss.

You are right! It is so horrible to see a bargain once you have booked!

 

[Kath2003]

You are right! It is so horrible to see a bargain once you have booked!

NEVER EVER LOOK!

Pay what you are willing to pay. Then don't look back

I try to beat my year-on-year daily costs. That's challenging enough! We travel n a VERY limited budget (flight + hotel < £55 per person per day) so finding an acceptable price is hard enough as it is.