disneymom08
New Member
When is the best time to book flights? I always thought that 3 months out was the best time to purchase airfare. Is this true? We are going in to WDW in mid-May and flights seem to be OK but no great deals. Any tips?
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Flights
- Thread starter disneymom08
- Start date
ClemsonTigger
Naturally Grumpy
There shouldn't be any problem with booking 3 months out. While you can get some bargains waiting for the last minute, I personally don't see gambling with a vacation like that where everything else is planned. Most airlines offer very good rates when you look at 4-6+ months out, so just find a rate you are satisfied with and book. The only times where longer lead times are needed are with prime holiday travel.
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thrupaytonseyes
Active Member
If you use JetBlue or Airtran(don't know about other airlines) and the price goes down after you book you can call and get a price adjustment. They will give your account a credit that is good for one year. Airtran does charge $5 (I think that is the price) since you are calling rather than using the website to do the reservations(which you have to call to get the adjustment). We have over $100 to use with Jetblue from our trip in Sept b/c the price went from $99 to $59 each way...I was very happy with that! Can't wait to book our Dec trip using those credits!!!!!!
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Regarding flight booking, there is absolutely no consistency into what will work best. I have flown on average once a week for the past 5 years. Sometimes rates are best when I book early, sometimes late. The only advice I can give is that if you seen a fair published that you are happy with, book it, because five minutes later, it could be different.
And if you do book a fare and find a published fair on the same flights for less, call the airline and see what they'll do, even if the official policies don't entitle you to anything. You can often get something out of them -- either a credit for a future flight, or sometimes even a refund of the difference.
And if you do book a fare and find a published fair on the same flights for less, call the airline and see what they'll do, even if the official policies don't entitle you to anything. You can often get something out of them -- either a credit for a future flight, or sometimes even a refund of the difference.
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J_Krafty24
Active Member
Something I have heard is that you can usually find better deals later at night. This is because comparison shoppers usually surf online for the best deals at that time and the airlines want to be competitive. I haven’t had the chance to test this theory yet though.
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ThinkTink721
Well-Known Member
We are not going until Sept., but we have already booked our flights.
We got a good deal at $158 per ticket.
One of our tickets was free due to my husband's Delta FF miles that we traded in.
:wave:
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I will try this tonight. It's difficult to know what is a good especially because when booking through travel websites there is an addidional $35-$45 in taxes and fees added so published rates of $164 creep over $200 per person.
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At $158 a ticket, I'd save the miles for something else. In any event, with a fare like that, you are absolutely right to jump on it right away.
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Most of the travel websites (orbitz, travelocity, etc.) charge you, sometimes without clearly disclosing, an additional $5-10 per ticket over what you'd pay for the same flights at the airline web sites. Basically, this is how these sites make money, since the airlines don't pay commissions anymore. I use the travel sites to search for fares, and then buy the tickets at the airline site to save a few bucks.
Also, remember that some of the discount arilines, inlcuding Southwest, do not make their fares available in the systems that most of the travel sites draw from. Thus, you have to look at the airline's own site (or use a travel agent that will check for you) to compare the fares on those airlines.
And it is often true that time of day makes a big different in airfare. Late night, Saturday, Tuesday and Wednesday often are cheaper, but not always.
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elizs77
Active Member
We're flying Southwest in early May. We purchased three seats for a grand total (including fees and taxes) for $460, which comes out to about $153 pp. Now, when we flew in 2006, we got tix about 2 weeks prior for $98 pp. It's all a game, but I agree with the others, find a price you like and go ahead and buy. We wanted to leave at certain times, so we went ahead and bought. And with the policy that Rob describes, we felt like there was a bit of a safety net, even if SW keeps the money.
When we got tix at the last minute, we ended up with a 9 am departure, and we live just over an hour away from the closest airport SW services (of course, we live 15 min from another major airport, it's just very expensive). When we left WDW, Magic Express picked us up at 4 am for our 7:30 am flight. We just swore not to get stuck with those kinds of early times again, especially upon departure.
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Thanks to all for all the helpful tips. I think I am going to call Southwest because they said on their website that they don't publish children's fares on the site. I am glad I read the fine print because I almost booked the regular priced ticket for my 3 year old.
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thrupaytonseyes
Active Member
I use www.kayak.com and www.sidestep.com They search all of the travel sites and most of the airlines sites as well. I don't think southwest is on there though. This way you can have all the prices in one place to compare.
Also, when I called Southwest about the child rate for one of the flights I was told that the fee on the internet was cheaper than the child rate and usually is for some reason. I suspect it is b/c of the web specials offered.
Also, when I called Southwest about the child rate for one of the flights I was told that the fee on the internet was cheaper than the child rate and usually is for some reason. I suspect it is b/c of the web specials offered.
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RussJT
Member
I was always told that you can find the cheapest rates at about 2 AM on Tuesday. For our upcoming trip I had been comparing rates for different airlines, so I knew what was being offered.
I stayed up late one night. At almost exactly 2AM on a Tuesday, I found a flight that saved us over $200 for the four of us. (It was for a direct flight on a major airline with great flight times.)
Might be worth losing a few hours sleep to try it out.
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