This airfare game is driving me crazy!!

[DisneyFan09]

OMG I am so stressed out about airfare. We're going 9/26/06 - 10/04/06 (there are 4 of us)and the prices have gone up and down. We live about 30 minutes from a small regional airport and about 2 1/2 hours from Chicago. So my dilemna is should I buy now (I can get Airtran out of Moline for $207 pp) or wait and see what Southwest does and fly out of Chicago. I feel like this is such a gamble. Right before the free dining came out I could've gotten American Airlines for $158 pp but I was waiting for WDW codes and didn't want to book airfare until I saw what deals were going to come out and of course the prices skyrocketed almost overnight. I guess I could live with $207 but our trip is still 5 months out and anything could happen and I would kick myself if there is a great sale a few months before. But at the same time, prices could continue to soar. What should I do?

 

[bjscheel]

I was stressing about our December flight so I just went ahead and booked one! With gas prices on the rise I was worried they would just get worse and worse. Now it's done and I don't have to worry. Except now I am worried about flight changes, seat reassignments, etc. that other people are posting about!

Last year I could have saved $300 if I waited a couple months. But this time I am not going to check back.

 

[disneyinseptember]

I'm in the same boat as you. We are 1 1/2 hrs from Chicago and can't decide if we should drive and fly from there or fly out of our local airport and when to buy the tickets and so on and so on... I'm gonna sit tight awhile longer and watch the prices. Hopefully they will go down. Hey we're going the same time! Sept 30-Oct. 7 here. Have a great trip!

 

[disneyinseptember]

I forgot to mention, last year we snagged rt tickets out of Chicago for $104 each, now it's more than double.

 

[maciec]

I am in the same situation. What I did was check to see what the lowest fare I could get on SWA out of Baltimore would cost and see what the difference was between SWA and USAir (they are the only carrier out of our regional airport). If the cost difference is worth my time then we would make the drive to Baltimore and fly out of there; if not, then we will fly out of Salisbury.

The difference right now is over $500. That's worth my time to drive to Baltimore, but dh doesn't know what he wants to do, so now I wait.

 

[salmoneous]

At $207, I'd take it. And then never, ever look to see if a deal or sale comes out afterward.

Your peace of mind is worth more than the few bucks you might possible save.

 

[WIDisneyFan]

My opinion on this would be if you can get anything for $200ish or less I would buy it and then relax. Is there a chance that prices will come down - of course, but I think it is far more likely given the current fuel prices that they will go up and stay up. For me just removing the strees would make it an easy decision

 

[txaggiemomof3]

I am stressing too! We are going in October and I've watched airfare go up and up and up..... I checked Continental this morning and I'm now looking at $339/pp RT from Houston to Orlando (up $10 from yesterday). It was $270/pp last month. There are 5 of us traveling so at this rate, I will be paying more for airfare than our weeklong vacation! I keep hoping that Southwest comes out with their fares soon but I hope I'm not making a big mistake by waiting.

 

[DisneyFan09]

Thanks for the responses. I wish I could convey in writing how totally wigged out I am. I'm pretty sure I'm having a severe anxiety attack.

Okay, I found 178 pp on NWA out of Moline, which would save us about $117, but the times are not great and we would have a 5 1/2 hour layover in Memphis and I figure we'd spend at least $50 on food and drinks during that time so that would take our savings down to $67 over Airtran and we can get great flight times with them.

The best that I have ever seen on Airtran out of Moline is $69 each way but I'm sure the choice of flights would be limited. So I guess I'm going to bite the bullet and book for $207 (that's $89 each way plus taxes).

I still wonder if prices won't go down a little after Southwest releases more dates. Arrrrrrghhh!!!!

 

[angel's momma]

Okay, I found 178 pp on NWA out of Moline, which would save us about $117, but the times are not great and we would have a 5 1/2 hour layover in Memphis and I figure we'd spend at least $50 on food and drinks during that time so that would take our savings down to $67 over Airtran and we can get great flight times with them.

We're going 9/26-10/3 out of Moline on NWA, through Memphis. We booked at the beginning of April for $163. Our layovers are something like an hour & half down & 30 min. back. In order to get that rate, I had to add 2 days to our trip - it was originally 9/28-10/3, but the airfare was considerably more for those dates.

(I just checked, and the flight we're on is currently $202)


Good Luck!! I know how you feel about the prices going up & down - it's been very frustrating.

 

[WeLoveThePoly]

I bought tickets for our October trip back in early December (on Delta). I paid $535 for the 3 of us (comes out to $89 each way/person).

I didn't want to wait for AirTran or SouthWest to release their fares - I wanted to know I had my airfare. At the moment I have seat assignments but we shall see how that works out!

Debbie

 

[mum of two pirates]

For the end of nov -Dec. I saw $280 and then two days later when I booked it $298, I booked now it sits at $580. each that is, I'm so glad I did then.

 

[DisneyFan09]

I did it - I booked tonight!! I feel a little better but I hope I won't have buyer's remorse in the morning. I feel like I'm on "Deal or No Deal"!!! At least now I know our vacation is set in stone and that's a good feeling. I got great times too going down we leave MLI at 5:35am and arrive at MCO at 10:37am and coming back we leave MCO on a non-stop flight at 2:37pm and get home at 4:08pm. I don't think I could've gotten any better than that. Total for 4 people $829.60 - OUCH!! Now I just have to make myself not check rates 10 times a day like I have been for the last month!! Good luck to all of you out there still playing "Deal or No Deal" with airfare!!

 

[westjones]

I did it - I booked tonight!! I feel a little better but I hope I won't have buyer's remorse in the morning. I feel like I'm on "Deal or No Deal"!!!

This is what I told DH! We are watching for next March, and I am 'hoping' we have time for it to go down. Just today, all the flights I have been watching went up $10 each! It seemed to be across the board on all flights!

I can't book yet because we have to see if our DD gets into this school we want her to go to (enrollment is through a lottery system when there are openings, and it is complicated). We won't know for sure if she is in or not until sometime between June and the first week of school (August).

I just hope airfare for March is out of control by then! It is making me nervous also, but it helps knowing that I can't do anything yet, so if I miss a good deal it isn't my fault at this point.

DJ

 

[TSM1993]

We are going 8/16 - 8/22 for 2 people adults

Staying at All Star Movies
6 Day Hoppers
2 RT Airfares from Harrisburg (about $250 each)
Dining
Insurance
Magical Express

$1657.00 for every thing includes all taxes and additional fees.