Seeking advice for august 2011

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

We are in the midst of planning my dd's sweet sixteen. We are bringing dd and 3 friends to WDW. Usually I purchase 3 airfare..now I'm doing 6! I just booked the trip down with Jetblue - 6 am flight $97 - thought that was the best I will do. However, the day back, the airfare runs is over $200 with taxes. I don't know whether to jump on that, or wait till Feb for Southwest. I do see a Delta flight for about $157 but haven't flown them in years (couldn't deal with the constant flight changes) or American for $159 (which I have never flown). Any advice?

 

[Renwoman]

My suggestion would be to buy the tickets directly from an airline that has a "rollover" or refund policy if ticket prices drop. A "rollover" is when the airline gives you a voucher for future use if the price of your tickets drop. I've also heard of airlines giving a refund instead of a "rollover". Someone on the boards was talking about getting a refund from AirTran I believe.

I also read somewhere that sometimes only tickets bought directly from the airlines are elgible. I would suggest doing your research on a travel site like Travelocity or Expedia to compare prices and then go directly the airline website when you find a good flight. Better to be safe than sorry.

American Airlines "rollover" policy
Delta's Best Fare Guarantee

Good Luck! I hope you have a wonderful time on your trip.

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

We are going down JetBlue, and I know that they do give you a credit for future use. I think with the 6 tickets. we are purchasing, even if they go down about $20 or so, that would pay for one ticket for another trip for one of us. I was looking at Delta, but just saw that they charge for luggage, so I want to stay away from them if possible. Don't know if American Airlines does that too, I'll check it out. Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[uva185]

There is no need to book airfare this far out! 2-3 months in advance is the "sweet spot", especially for non-holiday travel.

 

[dudspizza]

There is no need to book airfare this far out! 2-3 months in advance is the "sweet spot", especially for non-holiday travel.

I agree... August is 9 months out.... sit and wait on the return for now....

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

I went and did purchase the $97 way down tix, and will wait on the return flight. I don't think I can do any better than the $97 and am not willing to chance it. I did have a $250 credit, so the 6 tix ended up costing me a little over $400 . If the fare drops, then JB will credit me and I can use that for the next time we fly. I do check JB to see if the return lowers, but will wait for Southwest to release their fares. I always purchase out tix early, and 9 times out of 10 the are sky high months later. That's what's making me nervous, but I am sitting tight waiting for now.

 

[uva185]

I went and did purchase the $97 way down tix, and will wait on the return flight. I don't think I can do any better than the $97 and am not willing to chance it. I did have a $250 credit, so the 6 tix ended up costing me a little over $400 . If the fare drops, then JB will credit me and I can use that for the next time we fly. I do check JB to see if the return lowers, but will wait for Southwest to release their fares. I always purchase out tix early, and 9 times out of 10 the are sky high months later. That's what's making me nervous, but I am sitting tight waiting for now.

One suggestion I would have is search for no more than 4 passengers at a time. Preferably 1 or 2. Sometimes the airlines will only open their lowest fare buckets for a few people at a time, but as soon as one seat is booked another is almost immediately added back into the lowest fare bucket. Searching for all 6 at the same time might automatically pull fares from a higher fare bucket. All tickets under a single reservation must come from the same fare bucket. So if all 6 are not available in the lowest bucket it will pull all 6 from whichever bucket has 6 available.

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

One suggestion I would have is search for no more than 4 passengers at a time. Preferably 1 or 2. Sometimes the airlines will only open their lowest fare buckets for a few people at a time, but as soon as one seat is booked another is almost immediately added back into the lowest fare bucket. Searching for all 6 at the same time might automatically pull fares from a higher fare bucket. All tickets under a single reservation must come from the same fare bucket. So if all 6 are not available in the lowest bucket it will pull all 6 from whichever bucket has 6 available.

Thanks for the advice. I have been searching for one passenger at at time. When I spoke with a JB rep, they said told me the same thing.