How long do you wait before getting plane tix?

karenj2 · Post by **karenj2** » May Tue 29, 2007 9:09 am

Last year when hubby and I went on a spur of the moment trip to WDW, we started planning in August for a trip in September (week of Labor Day). Because of that, getting plane tix was somewhat painless - I bought them through southwest at ~$200 each, then kept watching the DING fares until they were closer to ~$80 each.

We're going again at the end of August, and this time, for some reason, I'm getting antsy about not having tickets yet. (We're traveling with my sister & her family, so we're trying to get the same flight, etc.) There WAS a great DING fare back in March or so, but it quickly got taken up, and so now the price per ticket is closer to $250 per person, and my sis isn't willing to fork over that much for her family of four this early on (even though I'm almost certain that we'll get cheaper fares eventually).

I'm going crazy - I want my tickets!!!

Should I wait?

netslave · Post by **netslave** » May Tue 29, 2007 10:33 am

Nope. I don't wait for tickets. I'd rather pay a little more knowing that I have them, than to wait and try to get cheaper tix. More often than not, waiting seems to back-fire on me.

You should check ebay and see if there are any southwest points for sale. If so, you can get those at a discount and then buy your tix with the points. At least you can save a few dollars.

jcodirewolf · Post by **jcodirewolf** » May Tue 29, 2007 12:13 pm

From BOS -> MCO we tend to wait till the fare is down to about $200 per person (often times it's less.) We know what historically the prices are, a but more when we are traveling on busy weekends a bit less on some weekends. In general $200 is our threshold for time to jump.

johno

AKLRULZ · Post by **AKLRULZ** » May Thu 31, 2007 7:06 am

I've waited as little as two days before a trip and have purchased as soon as 6 months out over the years. Typically, I'll start looking a few months in advance and I always have email alerts from the airlines I fly on for great deals so often I will book a Disney trip around air tickets I just bought! 8)

knedeau · Post by **knedeau** » May Thu 31, 2007 9:15 am

Yeah I usually have my tix early. But I thought with Southwest, if you buy a more $ ticket, they'll refund the difference you when the price goes down... am I wrong?

Shinku · Post by **Shinku** » May Thu 31, 2007 9:58 pm

I love southwest! I do the cheaper ticket at the last minute thing all the time with southwest and DING. I buy the cheapest ticket when I know my trip is set for sure, then I watch DING until about a week before my flight. That's when they go "uh oh, we might not sell out this flight" and usually that's when you'll get the biggest price difference. It's an easy process if you're observant and willing to make a phone call or two.

karenj2 · Post by **karenj2** » Jun Fri 01, 2007 8:02 am

knedeau - Southwest does refund the difference, but it's hard to convince hubby and my sister that even though you might fork out the $$$ now, you can get it back later (either in vouchers or a CC refund).

When they first released the dates for June - November, they had an AWESOME DING fare, but everyone hemmed and hawed about getting them until it was too late. (Which in retrospect was a good thing, 'cause the Free Dining came out the week later, so we moved our trip back a week.)

AKLRULZ · Post by **AKLRULZ** » Jun Fri 01, 2007 5:22 pm

Oh man I hate Southwest! Cattle car in the sky!

I'll take Air Tran with assigned seats! 8)

Post by **Dr. Ravenscroft** » Jun Tue 05, 2007 3:10 pm

I won't fly anything other than Southwest unless someone else is paying for it. I generally wait until I see something good then jump on it. I also plan my vacation around the flight, sort of. I plan for the month I want to go but I don't set a date until I get a flight. I actually works out well for me, I got a flight to LA for $89 each way and the hotel room for the same price per night. So everything was $89 easy to figure out costs.

QuickGold · Post by **QuickGold** » Jun Wed 06, 2007 9:43 am

I usually book about 2 months or so before my trip

ldzny · Post by **ldzny** » Jun Wed 06, 2007 11:10 am

I usually go at the holidays, so I book well in advance, March for travel in December. This way I get the hotel I want too..

karenj2 · Post by **karenj2** » Jun Wed 06, 2007 1:29 pm

ldzny - I love your avatar!

... still haven't gotten tickets... I think my sister is avoiding me now - I do tend to get a bit "trip commandor-ish" at times.

foldmama · Post by **foldmama** » Jun Wed 06, 2007 2:26 pm

Karenj2: I live in the NY metro area and I usually purchase my tickets at least 4 months in advance. Last November we waited until about 10 weeks before and paid over $400.00 round trip from LGA/MCO and sat in the back of the plane

. Seats fill up quickly and I really need to book in advance. I am now looking at JetBlue For the December 3rd week and tickets are currently about $225.00 Round trip. That's about as good as it gets from NY now. Gone on the days when I can get $150.00 RT. I will mostlikly purchase December tickets in July!

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Jun Fri 08, 2007 11:57 am

I just booked my flight, It is about 2 months away until I leave for the College Program. I was sick of waiting for a cheaper flight, I just wanted to buy it to get it over with and to know that I am one step closer to when I leave.

Cost me $184 for one way to Orlando from Providence

SWHorn · Post by **SWHorn** » Jun Wed 13, 2007 4:17 pm

If I decide to take a trip early enough, I buy my Southwest tickets when they first release the flights for when I'm going and have the initial sale going on. This time, we got $89 each way from Houston to Orlando. After that sale ended, the tickets have gone up about $20.