Will airline prices for the fall go down or only up?

[cheryterese]

Looking at airline prices for Sept/Oct/Nov and wondering if they will stay the same, possibly decrease or only go up from here on out? In other words, should we book our flight now or wait?

 

[Jay2009]

I go in september/october and wait until june/july that's when I find the cheapest flights typically, once you get into end of july/august the price usually climbs steadily.

 

[kmk1180]

Jay might have a point, typically they have a sale or go down.
TYPICALLY.
But this might not be a typical year.
With gas prices going much higher than they have the past couple years, I'm not so sure.

We're going in Oct. and bought when first available.
Even though it was siginifcantly higher than last years prices.
But I looked at those trend web sites like Bing and Kayak, both said buy now.
I also looked at leaving on sat and returning on a sunday, every week from here to then, and the price I got was the cheapest available.
Some the same, many even higher and few very high.
I didn't want to chance it, and bought. Did it cost me more than last years trip? Yep. But made cost planning alot easier and now I don't have to worry between now and July what prices wil do.
In the end I choose having the security of knowning over the worry and hope of saving a little later at risk of paying even more.

 

[Michigan_tinkerbell]

We got our tickets February 14th for our November trip. We paid 547 for 5 tickets. My friend watched and watched and just got hers for he same date for 797 (just last week) today they are at 1200. I say if you see a good deal jump on them. I work for an airline (par 121 operation) and the best time to get them is Tuesday or Wednesday.

Good luck

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

We fly southwest and purchased our flights in February for our September trip. We found prices we could "live with" and if they come down for times we'd be willing to fly (and luckily we live fairly close to 4 airports Southwest flies out of) we can change them. Right now they are finally coming back down to what we paid in February and some flights are even lower but I don't want to arrive at 11 pm or leave to come home at 8 am.

 

[DustyPixie]

We are going in October, and I've already bought the tickets. I watched the air fares out of three different airports for quite awhile, first very worried because they were running so high.

But then I saw the trends and noticed when they would periodically drop for a day. Bought them when they were lowest. They actually weren't bad - about $250 round trip each plus taxes (Airtran). I was also worried that with the anticipated continued rise in gas prices this summer, I wouldn't find anything better for the time slots (and non-stop flights) that we wanted. In the end, it's probably pretty hard to predict what will happen. If they aren't filling the seats by July, then they will probably drop the rates, but who knows? Best of luck!!

 

[famsen]

I bought our tickets for our September/October trip right when they were released and that was the lowest price I have seen.
I just checked our departure flight and the price has gone from $89 to $235 per ticket!
I realize that they price may go down but I am just happy I got them when I did.

 

[FigmentChick]

I bought my tickets the day they became available because prices are only going to conintue to climb. Unfortunately, fuel is only going to continue to increase in price and, therefore, so will ticket prices. I bought our tickets for $220 round trip per person....they are now at $320 round trip per person. I'm just glad I was able to convince my husband when I did.

Sorry...scratch that...they just went up to $376 round trip per person. UGH

 

[nkereina]

There's no way to predict what flight prices will do. Working in the hospitality industry, I know there are no trends you can follow based on past years with this. With sky-rocketing gas prices and the anticipation gas prices will near $6by the end of summer, I'd say book flights now if you can afford them. I booked my flights to Orlando for September back in March when they were released and have monitored the prices since, and they have only gone up. They are now almost $200 more than what we payed. I'm also going to Seattle in June and booked those flights in March as well and they have consistently increased and are now about $175 more than what I paid.

If you book with certain airlines, you can sometimes get reimbursed should the prices drop lower than what you paid. JetBlue will reimburse you if it drops lower at all, and AirTran will reimburse you if it drops at least $75 less than what you paid. Not sure about others.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

What you are asking is really a question that is not possible to answer. It all depends on the price of gasoline. If that continues to rise, so will air fair. If it goes down, we may see air fair go down. If the actual air fair doesn't go up by much, there will be an increase in the "other" fee's that airlines charge..

Some are going to say book now, some will say wait. Either way you are going to have to make the decision based on what you feel comfortable doing. It is your choice and it is a gamble...either way. 50/50 chance it can go up or down... and an Alan Greenspan question

 

[cheryterese]

Thanks for all of the great information. I think we will be going in November. We will be making our decision within the next few days. Southwest only has their flight information out for the first few days of November, but it sounds like once it's out we might as well just purchase the tickets.

 

[gometros]

I bought tickets for my October trip on Thursday when JetBlue had a one day sale. Got round trip from NY for only $184 when it's generally been around $205.

 

[TDC Nala]

I buy airline tickets as soon as I see fares and times I can live with. It should be anticipated that prices will go up at this point.

I booked a JetBlue flight for October thinking I'd get credit if it went down, and instead of dropping the price they had a one-day sale on new bookings only.

 

[cheryterese]

I bought tickets for my October trip on Thursday when JetBlue had a one day sale. Got round trip from NY for only $184 when it's generally been around $205.

How do you find out about the sales?
Do you have to pay for baggage on JetBlue? We have 3 kids, so car seats and strollers add up.
Thanks!

 

[hookedonears]

Given the current oil market and problems in the middle east. I wouldn't expect oil prices, gasoline prices or Jet fuel to go down any time soon. If it were me, I'd go ahead and buy my tickets now. I personally think that ticket prices are going no place but up. They may fluxuate a little bit here or there, but why take the chance.

 

[addiln]

it is so hard to tell what the prices will be. we are going in nov and bought our tickets in feb since it was a great price for the 3 of us going. since then the tickets have doubled and then come back down to about $40 more. either way you should buy them when the price is good for you. if they drop down there is nothing you can do about it and if they go up then you are locked in and will not have to worry about it

 

[Scubee]

Each airline traditionally has a normal schedule for offering discounts. It helps to know which airlines are available to you and when those discounts are usually offered. For example, Southwest usually puts flights from certain airports on sale on Tuesdays with a deadline to buy before Thursday midnight. Airtran often places sales scattered across their board on Tuesdays as well but the sale my run 3 days to 2 weeks.

The best rates will usually be found 4-8 months out from departure and gradually climb the closer you get to that date. Flying on Tues, Wed, and Thursdays will also have lower rates so be flexible if you can. On our last trip, we saved $180 in airfare to stay one day longer (minus a few dollars to extend our tickets, a 30% off room rate, food and it nearly paid us to stay an additional day.

 

[nkereina]

How do you find out about the sales?
Do you have to pay for baggage on JetBlue? We have 3 kids, so car seats and strollers add up.
Thanks!

I knew about this sale too. I got an email from JetBlue about it. It was a 20% off dicount code to type in at check out that gave 20% off all fares for one day only. Sign up for email alerts from jetblue.com and you'll get them in the future. As far as fees, I *believe* the first bag is free with JetBlue per person and then additional bags come with charges. As far as I know, Southwest is the only airline left that allows 2 free bags.

To the OP, if you are going in November, I would highly suggest booking your flights the day Southwest releases the fares. I did this with JetBlue and got the lowest prices that have been out for my dates. Another factor, in addition to gas/oil prices, is demand - the closer you get to your travel dates and the more seats on the plane on that they sell, the higher the prices go since demand is higher.

 

[sheldonsmom]

For some reason, I was able to save $184 total on tickets for two people flying airtran from Indy to Orlando. The total cost of two tickets booking through Disney was $358, might want to try that and see what happens.

 

[kiki50]

Jet Blue will extend their schedule thru Jan. 3, 2012 starting tomorrow.