when do you buy plane tix?

[Mainebound]

hi all,

I am wondering when to buy our plane tickets for our early March trip to the World. Last year, I waited, and the prices did NOT come down, and I got stuck with terrible times (5:30 a.m. anyone??). I know SWA hasn't released their March fares yet, but I'm not sure I'm willing to drive the 3+ hours it would take to get to an SWA airport anyway.

So, I'm just wondering if I should go ahead or if people have had better experience waiting.

thanks for your opinions!

 

[miche61]

As luck would have it, I brought DD home sick from school one day and happened to check on tix from MSP (MN) to MCO and found tix for 142.50! I spent half of what I had planned on spending on tix. I bought the tix in March or April for our trip in Jan. So, my advice is to keep watching the prices, I signed up for travelocity fare watch, and they keep you informed when prices go up or down by $25 or so. Then decide how much you want to spend. Also if you purchase through the airline, they can usually issue a voucher for the difference if prices go down. On Travelocity, they don't, but that was the only site I could still get that price on..

 

[crazywig]

i would start watching now, especially because you've been burned with flight times.


where are you flying out of? boston? i wouldn't pay more than $225 personally.

if you see a good price you're comfortable with, grab it. i saw a fantastic price for my flight and waited one day to book and the fare was gone! learned my lesson!

 

[Rpsemont]

I watch the fares year round and buy when I know for sure my dates and/or when there's a good fare. (If you like going to WDW, you should always watch fares -IMHO) Maybe post your preferred airports and ask what other people have paid historically. Then you can get a good idea of what's a good and what's a bad fare. Alot of Feb/Mar fares may not go "on sale" until Nov.Dec. And keep in mind they put them on sale to get rid of seats on less full non preferred flight time flights. From watching for the last 3-4 years I know that flying out of Harford, I can usually go for $160 +/- or less. If I start getting picky about dates/times, it might be more (I'm not picky) But I don't know anything about flying from Maine.

 

[debden]

HI,Usually I keep an eye every day and see when the fares are at their lowest then buy our tickets.I just found a great fare a couple of weeks ago on United Airlines website (US Airways is the code share) for $119 RT (taxes included!!) from Albany,New York.
It pays to wait and be patient.I know I would NEVER find a fare lower than this out of Upstate New York. United was the only airline offering this fare thru the middle of December so we jumped on it since it's our favorite time of year to go to Universal/IOA....Good luck,hope you can do as well!!
Debbie

 

[shelbyjosh]

We always go the first few weeks of March. We have bought our tix at various times. For our 02 trip, we got them 8/01 and the rates went down 2x so we got vouchers for our 03 trip. I bought our 03 trip tix in Jan 03. We were around $225 (before vouchers) in Jan. I have been watching the fares for next March and have not been thrilled! We fly Spirit and have been happy with them. Playing the waiting game is always a chance. You think you have a good fare, but then it goes down. We won't pay over $225 to Orlando. Good luck!

 

[BCVOwner2002]

I check prices on a regular basis and have never paid more than $200 R/T from Boston. For our June trip I purchased the tickets in April and for our July trip, I purchased in June. Annmarie

 

[BWVDenise]

I booked for June yesterday b/c the fare for the flight I wanted went up already (so I figure the plane is filling). I got the price I wanted but went with a slightly later flight.

 

[Mainebound]

Thanks everyone! I just bought our tickets for March 1-9 trip. It'll be Delta, from Bangor at $260 per person (which, believe me, is a decent fare). But I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for discounted fares and attempt to get those vouchers!