Question about booking flights..

[disneysnowflake]

Usually I don't book flights so far in advance (our trip is in Dec), but I've decided to just get it out of the way.

Through Travelocity I can get a flight with Northwest leaving my small commuter airport at 6am, going to Detroit, then to Orlando by 11 something.

The plane home would leave Orlando at 10am going back to Detroit and then to our little commuter airport by sometime after 3pm.

But when I go onto the Northwest website they don't give me the option for any of those flight times.

They have the one flight leaving at 6am from my home, but they only option they give me for my return flight is 7pm. Their only other option for flights is to leave home at 4:40pm and return home on a 8am flight.

I guess I'm a little slow with this stuff, but how can Travelocity get me better times than the airline's website? It's only $5 total difference in price using Travelocity.

Also, is there any risk at booking a flight for mid December this early? Would I be better off waiting??

 

[pumpkinboy]

Your little bitty hometown's airport code might help, as lots of folks here like to look up flight times and prices, just out of interest. They might be able to find something too.

As for whether you are better off waiting, I am not sure waiting will do much good, and if you do book now and find a better deal later, the airline very well might give you a credit for the difference. Another thing to consider is that if NWA was thinking of cancelling service to any smaller markets, if they have lots of advance bookings in your small market (indicating demand), they might be less likely to suspend service.

Good luck.

 

[Jestocost]

It's hard to say how the flights available could be different. Sometimes a small difference in how you structure your search or differences in how two sites have their search systems set up can mean differences in the results you get. Did you have one search by schedule and one search by best fare, for example.

Travelocity will frequently pair segments with different airlines, too, so it's possible that one or more of the flights on their search weren't true Northwest flights and don't show up on their site? It doesn't sound like that was the case, but you'd have to read the fine print to know.

Also, Northwest's system could show you only flights with seats available and update that in real time, whereas Travelocity knows there's a flight scheduled at a certain time, but might not know if there are any seats available until it actually queries the Northwest system when you elect to reserve the flight. I seem to recall that there used to be some problems with not being able to select seats on Northwest flights through Travelocity, Expedia, etc. and that could support this theory.

I don't really know, but there would seem to be some possible explanations.

Booking far in advance means that there's more of a chance that schedules will change between now and when you fly. That could really foul things up if you're flying into a smaller airport with less frequent service. At the same time, if you're on a really small plane the seats can go very quickly and you could be out of luck if you wait.

 

[disneysnowflake]

I have another question.

If I were to book now and the flight were to change, am I stuck with the change no matter what?

I'm really leary of buying tickets and then not being able to travel or being stuck for hours in a strange airport.

Usually when I travel I buy my tickets within a month of the trip. I'm afraid if I wait the flights may be sold out.

Ugh. I just don't know what to do.

 

[Jestocost]

If the airline makes a schedule change or eliminates a flight, there's not much you can do. In the former situation you may be able to switch to another flight on the same airline with a better time, assuming there is such a flight and there's space. I've never had to do that, so I don't know.

We're fortunate to have direct flights from St. Louis, but we had changes in the times of both our flights in November. Going out, we left an hour or so later, which got us in to MCO later than we wanted, but no big deal. Coming back we were pushed about four hours later, which let us spend a full day at the MK, but made for a late arrival home with two kids.

I know it's tough to figure. You just have to balance the risk of not being able to get a flight at all with the possibility that you may be able to get a lower fare if you wait.

In your situation, you might want to look into if it would be better to drive to a larger city (even if it's a few hours) to catch a direct flight or at least have more options.

 

[disneysnowflake]

Well, I think I'm going to risk it and book now. Since we are departing on a Saturday and returning on a Saturday (the Sat. before Christmas on Dec. 18th) I'm afraid of having it sell out.

Does anyone have suggestion on how to handle town car reservations? How much later than your flight arrives do you tell the town car company to pick you up?

I'm so glad I found dis. I want to get my entire trip booked so then I can sit back and just wait for the best vacation ever... I hope.

 

[Jestocost]

For town car reservations, you'll just need to tell the service what flight you're on and when you arrive. They'll figure out on their own when they need to be there and will meet you in baggage claim. Good drivers/services will even check for schedule changes and monitor the flight so they will be there at the right time even if you're delayed in transit. It's probably best to confirm the arrival time at least a few days in advance with them, however.

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by disneysnowflake
......(snip).....Through Travelocity I can get a flight with Northwest leaving my small commuter airport at 6am, going to Detroit, then to Orlando by 11 something.

The plane home would leave Orlando at 10am going back to Detroit and then to our little commuter airport by sometime after 3pm.

But when I go onto the Northwest website they don't give me the option for any of those flight times.

They have the one flight leaving at 6am from my home, but they only option they give me for my return flight is 7pm. Their only other option for flights is to leave home at 4:40pm and return home on a 8am flight.

I guess I'm a little slow with this stuff, but how can Travelocity get me better times than the airline's website? It's only $5 total difference in price using Travelocity......

NWA's site can be tricky to use. I suspect you are searching by RT lowest fare - NWA will only give you so many options as there are way too many to list t6hem all. (Sometimes, they don't show all the times available for that lowest fare, either, LOL). Here's what I do when this happens to me:

Use the feature where you select your flights by schedule. You should see the same options as Travelocity shows. The price should also end up the same, and you won't have to pay the fee.

Good luck!

P.S. Yes there is some risk for booking this far ahead. (We are also going in december and have already booked. Do that a lot). Just keep an eye on the flights and if you see a schedule change (very likely this far in advance), give them a call if the new times won't work. NWA will put you on another flight that works for you - be prepared when you call with the flights you want instead.

You can PM me if you want more info or additional help.

 

[disneysnowflake]

Thank you Jestocost for the info about the Town Car. That makes me feel a little better.

Thank to you, too, Carol for the advice about the NorthWest website. I did exactly what you said to do by looking up the flights by schedule, and I got the exact time I wanted, plus saved the fee.

Now all I have to do is keep my fingers crossed until December hoping everything goes well. I think it will.

Thanks again for all your help.