plane ticket prices/trends - AirTran, Delta, US Airways, Southwest

[maman_et_fille]

We are looking at purchasing tickets for a relative to fly down and join us for 1-2 nights for our January 2013 trip. We are unfamiliar with the airports and airlines in their areas (either from Boston or North Carolina -probably RDU but maybe Charlotte or Wilmington). Does anyone know what can we expect from Delta, US Airways, AirTran, and Southwest in terms of ticket price changes/sales between now and January 2013? Are they as low now as they're going to get? Any input would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks so much!

 

[sam_gordon]

Anyone who can tell you with any kind of certainty what airfares will do between now and ANY date in the future needs to play the lottery. They'd have about as much success.

Your relative (or you if you are paying) need to know how much you'd feel comfortable paying for the ticket. Watch, watch, watch. When the ticket price gets equal to or lower than your "comfortable" price, buy. Unless you've purchased tickets on SW, DON'T LOOK AGAIN after booking.

 

[::danielle::]

My advice would be to get on the email list at Airfarewatchdog.com for their home airport. They send an email each Wednesday with the best deals from that airport. You can also go online and look if you don't want the email sent to you. You don't purchase through the website, they just send out weekly sales notices (SW is not included).

I've gotten some amazing deals on trips across the country from their emails. For example, a standard Houston to Orlando airfare is in the $350 range. I booked out tickets for our last March trip for $225. That sale price was released in December and never went lower. I booked directly through the airlines website which offered a Low Price Guarantee.

I would expect to see January fare sales sometime in August/September. Be prepared to book right away because the lowest prices sell out quickly (often less than 24 hours).

 

[maman_et_fille]

My advice would be to get on the email list at Airfarewatchdog.com for their home airport. They send an email each Wednesday with the best deals from that airport. You can also go online and look if you don't want the email sent to you. You don't purchase through the website, they just send out weekly sales notices (SW is not included).

I've gotten some amazing deals on trips across the country from their emails. For example, a standard Houston to Orlando airfare is in the $350 range. I booked out tickets for our last March trip for $225. That sale price was released in December and never went lower. I booked directly through the airlines website which offered a Low Price Guarantee.

I would expect to see January fare sales sometime in August/September. Be prepared to book right away because the lowest prices sell out quickly (often less than 24 hours).

Thank you! This is such helpful information.

 

[maman_et_fille]

Anyone who can tell you with any kind of certainty what airfares will do between now and ANY date in the future needs to play the lottery. They'd have about as much success.

Your relative (or you if you are paying) need to know how much you'd feel comfortable paying for the ticket. Watch, watch, watch. When the ticket price gets equal to or lower than your "comfortable" price, buy. Unless you've purchased tickets on SW, DON'T LOOK AGAIN after booking.

True. But we always fly Jet Blue out of the DC area - I know how their fares operate and what I can expect in terms of sales as the date gets closer. I was just looking for someone more experienced than me in the BOS and RDU markets. I'm going to check out the website another poster mentioned to see if it has typical prices so we can figure out a "comfortable" price. Thanks so much