Since we need to book at 11mos...vets help with airline ressies

[jimmytammy]

I know that it is way too soon to be thinking about buying airline tickets, but we will be getting ressies at 11 mos window very soon. So soon after I will be looking for airline ressies.

My inquiry is for you DVC vets Since most of yall have experienced the 11 mos booking by now to be sure to get your ressies, give me some insight at finding air ressies soon after(say 7 mos before departure date). Just trying to find best situation,direct flights, price. Im just not crazy about driving that far!

 

[Wes]

We do not usually actually book our flights until about 2 months before, since we use a combination of UAL frequent flier miles and purchases, and the more time that goes by the more FF miles we can accumulate.

But I start looking at the UAL web site about 5-6 months ahead, just to see what sort of itineraries and costs are involved for the purchased flights. I then monitor these once or twice a month, since they do change. If something really great comes available, I'll jump on it. But mostly we are just trying to get a somewhat plannable grasp on our itinerary -- e.g. are we flying straight through or stopping somewhere to change planes ...

I'll be interested to read how others handle this.

 

[Doctor P]

My best advice is to be PATIENT. Shop the airfares very hard so that when there is a short term deal you are able to jump on it. Do not panic if you have nothing and you are only two months out--that happened to me a few times in the last year and everything worked out great. Also, keep in mind that, if necessary, you have more than just Orlando to choose from (Tampa and St. Petersburg are probably the next best two options). Good luck!

 

[DebbieB]

Unless you are going at a peak holiday time, I would wait until closer to your travel date. When we went last May, the flights I wanted on USAir were over $700 around the first of the year. Then in February, they dropped to around $180, I guess they realized they had a bunch of empty seats on the flight and they had to drop the price. For our December trip, I usually buy tickets around the beginning of September.

Another reason not to buy tickets too far in advance is if you buy non-refundable's you'll have to pay a fee to change the flights if your plans change. Usually $100 per ticket, depending on the airline.

 

[jcodespoti]

I usually book when I see the amount I think is reasonable. For us its around $125.00 to $225.00 per ticket round trip. I have found these prices from about 7 months to 2 weeks in advance. Keep in mind that most airlines like only about 21 days in advance for purchasing tickets.
We fly Delta, it works for us being in the Northeast. I try to fly from Bradley but sometimes have to fly from Laguardia.
I personally have no idea how airlines set there prices, they seem to change almost daily. My advise is when you find a good fare at the time you want to fly is take it. I like the airline web sites better than the web portals. I try to make it a game and have fun.

Joe in CT

 

[ncligs]

To add to the good advice of the above posters........Sign up for Travelocity's e-mail alerts,you put in 5 destinations(Orlando,Tampa,etc) and when the price drops by $25 they will send you an e-mail.If you get a good price with good times, then go directly to the airline's site(US AIR,Continental,United,etc) and compare it to Travelocity's price.
The key is to be patient, and check the internet every day.As soon as you see a good price that is direct,good times, etc "JUMP " on it!!

 

[Eeyore2U]

I've had good luck checking the web right after flights become available. For this coming Feb I got $178 RT Nonstop from Boston on Delta.

 

[Terry S]

It seems to me you either have to book the flights on the day they become available or wait until a few months before.

 

[eva]

We always make our resort reservations well before we purchase the airline tickets. Once I've made the reservation I start checking expedia.com and travelocity.com almost daily. As some said before, the rates can change daily. Once I see a flight for under $200 I usually grab it. We are going in May and I just bought our airline tickets for $180 roundtrip from Peoria to Orlando. I was glad that I bought when I did because the rate went up to nearly $300 two days after I bought them.

 

[BigTigger]

From Boston (or Providence or Hartford) to Orlando, the dominant airline is Delta and sub-brand within Delta is Delta Express. If we book more than six months ahead, the fares for us have never been more than $200 with all taxes factored in for a direct Delta Express flight (the last four years have been $171, $198, $189, and $194). We could do Southwest from Providence to Tampa and drive over to Disney for $129 roundtrip, but it's not worth the general admission boarding to us to save the few dollars. I'm not into rugby scrums while vacationing. I usually use two to four frequent flyer rewards to further reduce the costs for our party of six.

The airfares have not risen much post 9/11, despite the fact that Boston's airline service has dropped 22% since then. A recent news article stated this was due to no one airline dominating Boston compared to some other markets that are dominated by one airline.

 

[Pinnie]

For us, it depends on what airline we are going to fly as to how soon we book ahead. If we fly NWA, I start looking as soon as 5 months out. We booked in September for our December flights this year and about a month after we booked, we noticed on NWAs web site, the flights we chose were $174 cheaper. We called NWA and they sent us vouchers we can use like cash for the difference in fares

If we are more flexible, we book ASAP on SWA. I already have my flights booked on SWA for our Easter trip. I noticed already that a number of the discount fares on SWA are already gone.

Even if you have your fares, if they go down, call the airline and see if they will issue you a voucher for the difference!

pin
remember the magic
DVC/BCvs 2002

 

[tonyboy]

My wife went into "panic" mode after learning that there were three months to the WDW trip and that I didn't make airline ressies. I searched from the time we made the ressie at BCV (7 months out) to two month prior to trip for the best deal. I figured that worst case I'd be stuck buying a higher price ticket but still within the 21 day advance ticket window that some airlines promote for their fares.

My strategy:
Signed up with the My.Yahoo.Com page and had them "watch" to see what airfare was going for. The best price I found was 198.00 from SF to Orlando. Then about 9 weeks before the trip I searched Orbitz and found a roundtrip ticket for 177.00 w/all taxes, etc. San Francisco to Orlando couldn't be this cheap (I thought) but was. Booked online and even earned my miles through Delta. I would recommend the wait strategy if you're willing to gamble for payoff. Sometimes it may not work though.

 

[JimC]

I travel quite a bit. Find a good travel agent. Mine can match or get very close to almost any fare out there and she is a life saver when travel problems arise. The good agents have the contacts and relationships to make things happen. They know the travel business better even then a road warrier like myself.

I have researched airline web sites and the independent travel sites. No one source has a lock on good fares, routing or times. Consumer reports recently did their own study and concluded much the same thing. What you also get with a good travel agent is service and advice. And that is generally overlooked until something goes wrong enroute.

That said, there are many tricks (but they are not iron clad rules) to reducing travel costs. Probably the best source of overall travel information is the Consumer Report Travel Letter.

The travel industry uses complex computer programs to maximize revenue. The computer code for those programs must be something to behold! I recently priced tickets on a major carrier's web site and an independent travel site. They were both very close on price. That afternoon I asked my agent to get me that flight and her price was lower and as I had logged back on to both sites they had changed prices as well -- they both were higher and no longer close in price.

If you travel enough to have a feel for a good price, use that as a trigger to buy. Just remember that the airlines are making it harder to make changes without penalties and some of the penalties are quite steep (essentially 100%).