Should I be worried now for Feb 05 airfare?

[Sammy]

Looking for Feb 26 through Mar 6 and have always been able to get good fares either out of Manchester, NH or Boston. I see nothing right now (reasonably priced, that is) for that time period. Even when SWA released their fares two weeks ago, there was nothing available right off the bat. This past Feb, we booked last-minute (booked in Jan for Feb) and was able to get decent fares with JetBlue, but we are traveling with another family and can't be that cavalier this time. Should I be worried already or does anyone have an opinion whether or not the fares will go down??)

Thanks for any advice or info!

Sammy

 

[MyGoofy26]

You still have plenty of time. My family used to book airfare as soon as we decided on a trip, but once I went to college and had a limited budget I learned how to take a little bit of money and make it go a long way - the biggest way I did that was simply watching airfare. For countless trips over the past 5 years, this has never failed to work for me - buy airfare 8-10 weeks before departure date. It'll go up and down for months before that point, but it usually bottoms out at the 8-10 week mark. Our airfare went from being around $250-270 round trip to just $98 a couple weeks ago simply by waiting and watching.

It's also good to have a little bit of flexibility - we (3 of us) were planning on flying into Orlando on a Friday, but by leaving Thursday evening at 7 (so I could go to class that day, and mom didn't have to use another vacation day) and staying one night at Pop Century (or regular reservation is at AKL) we were STILL saving hundreds of dollars over just flying on Friday and paying the full fare.

I used to search all the travel sites daily, but about a year ago I came up with a new "trick" that really saves time. I watch Travelocity every couple of days. I'll put in my airport codes and then click the option for "flexible dates" and put in my month (or months depending on when your dates fall) and see what comes up. It'll list all the airlines by the various rates and you can click on each one and see which dates are available for travel at that rate. When I find a rate I like offered by an airline that I like, then I search further - usually saving a couple dollars by going to the airline's website directly and booking. I don't know about every airline, but I don't think many charge you a booking fee like Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, or even your local travel agent will book.

I don't know if Travelocity does it, but they might - I use AOL's farewatcher (which AOL travel IS Travelocity so there might be something similar just on Travelocity) You'll put in your departure airport and your destination and then set a price that they will email you when the fare drops below. You can put as many destinations and prices in as you'd like. They're always very quick getting that email out after fares drop.

Carrie

 

[HeatherC]

I know how you are feeling about airfare prices. I just booked it last week for 5 of us for February. I knew it was going to be high, but it was really high for a while. We can fly out of Providence, Hartford, or Boston. The prices I was getting were over $400 a person! (We are going on a cruise and then Disney and cannot be flexible on our dates this trip.)

I wound up booking two one way flights for just around $300 each. I was lucky to get American Air for $73 one way, but wound up paying $226 for Jet Blue coming back. Since then JetBlue has gone up to $246. ( I guess they sell so many seats at one price.) I also figure that if JetBlue drops their rates, I can get a credit for next time.

I guess my advice is that if you are really flexible on dates, you may want to wait a while. Hopefully, they will come down.

Heather C

P.S> Also wanted to mention that you can check out flyi.com from Hartford if you are near there.

 

[antmaril]

I did what HeatherC did. We are also taking a Disney cruise, so we aren't very flexible. I booked SWA out of Detroit for the outbound and Spirit Airlines for the return - totaling about $300 person. I had a $400 credit to use at SWA, so I really wanted to use them. However, I prefer non-stop flights, so we booked Spirit on the way home.

If the fare goes down on SW, I'll try to get a credit for future travel.

Good luck!

It takes patience to wait!

 

[poohbear2]

I know what you mean! This is a prime week in Manchester so fares will be high and I am not sure how low they will end up being to be honest. I was looking at April vacation( the last week of April into May) and the prices are really out there. Have you tried Independent Air? They are just starting up in manchester and you might get some good rates with them being a new line in MHT. I think the web site is www.flyi.com

 

[Sammy]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. If it was just my family, I wouldn't mind waiting until later because I've always been able to snag a good sale that way. But, because there is another family involved (not as travel saavy as we DIS travelers are ), I'm nervous to take the chance in NOT having sales come up. Also, unlike our regular WDW vacations, we are not so flexible this time because it is a cruise (RCCL Western on Mariner of the Seas).

I think I'll just keep an eye out for the next few weeks, and if nothing comes up, I'll try to book SWA or Jet Blue at whatever cost, because I know they will at least price adjust.

I'll also check out Independence Air and see what they look like...thanks for the link!

Sammy

 

[Tinkim]

Sammy ~ Have you checked Travelocity yet? We are flying out of Manchester on 2/26 and we got $201 R/T per person. Not great but better than Southwest which was $300+ per person. These were the best fares I could find for us from Manchester in February without flying in very late and flying out very early. There is a possiblity that we will have another family going with us but they wouldn't be able to book their flights until the last minute so we are hoping if they are able to go there will be some sales although it would probably have to be different flights. Good luck with your search.

 

[jeff968]

I had a thread on this subject a week ago. I have also been waiting for reasonable flights and I can't be flexible because my wife is a teacher and the kids are in school. i have to work around their vacation schedule. I needed 2/18 return 2/27. I started looking for other airports in Florida. Finally last week, out of nowhere, I found non-stops from LGA into tampa for $179. I grabbed them. They are now over $500 for the same flights. So, keep watching the sites (I use orbtiz) and hopefully you'll find something. Good luck.