Explain it to me like a two year old......

[CoolCruiser21]

Why is it everywhere I look i see things like "airlines slashing prices" "airlines drastically reduce airfares" "oneway fares from $49"....................However the second I try to book a flight to seattle its $347 roundtrip to seattle at the end of August...........I am not sure if to wait or book now.

[Bosun]

I know exactly what you mean. I won't tell you if I think you should book now or later (my experience is it depends). Sometimes I have waited and had gotten a good last minute deal and other times I am kicking myself for not booking earlier. I fly home alot so now I know what is a good price from point A to B..

 

When it comes to these low one way fares, most of the time you have to book a round trip with the same airline in order to get that special. Their airfare for the return is always more expensive (probably regular price), therefore you are really only saving on half the flight. That's the way I see it..

 

For me, I dont book flights thru travelocity and these places (although I will check just to see).. I always go straight to the airline website (for me this has been the cheapest method).

 

Hope this helps you out a little..

[CoolCruiser21]

Thats the same thing that i have decided to do.........What airlines would you say have the most resonable rates? I am getting charged the $345 on Delta Airlines. I am not sure if the $345 is already the slashed price. I hate to wait when its 6 of us trying to get to Seattle for a cruise. I have already tried deeply discounted and changing my dates by a few dates but nothing.

[hdawson]

My guess is that we will see higher fares in the future. The major airlines are loosing money even though they offer lots of good sales. The cost per passenger is greater than the revenue it produces. Four airlines are in bankruptcy and there may be more later this year. Yes, some sale prices are less than rail or even bus. There are only 3 airlines that are consistantly profitable. All three are low fare carriers. Southwest, JetBlue and AirTran.

Remember, fuel prices have gone through the roof and maybe through the stratosphere later this year. Formerly underdevoped countries such as China and Mexico and eastern Europe are increasing their needs for oil every year. I've read that China is doubling their needs every three years now. We will all have to get use to this new world market. Glad I don't own a big SUV.

[Globaliser]

Why is it everywhere I look i see things like "airlines slashing prices" "airlines drastically reduce airfares" "oneway fares from $49"....................However the second I try to book a flight to seattle its $347 roundtrip to seattle at the end of August

Because the airline market works on supply and demand, like all other markets. Yes, you may be able to get fares from $49, but only if you travel on the flights that nobody else wants to travel on. Sometimes they're the ones that leave at the crack of dawn, or late at night, or on red-eyes on which there are no business travellers. And on any flight they may only sell two or four seats at that price, with all the others being more expensive - so if you're customer number five you will have to pay a higher price. And sometimes cheap seats waft in and out of the system depending on assessments of loads.

 

Deregulation of the airline industry has meant many things, but one of them is that buying an air ticket has become a venture into a big commodity market.

[zydecocruiser]

$345 rt to Seattle from where?

 

You do need to know what a regular discounted fare is to know whther or not it is a deal. Also to decide if the risk of it going higher is worth the risk of waiting.

 

Sometimes if you purchase tickets and the price goes down you can try to get a refund of the difference in price.

 

You can pay a tidy sum ot the cruise lines for airfare and end up on the same redeye flights that the airlines drop the price on to get bodies on board.

[chipster]

Globaliser, I am dealing with this same situation, but in reverse. Some friends are trying to book their airfare for Jan of 06 from Seattle-Florida (MIA or FLL) and keep thinking they should wait for the "sales". I have had lots of advice, that is running about 60/40 at the moment - 60% suggesting they book NOW! (They aren't taking the advice, by the way). I've told them (and the message boards have said the same thing) that while they may get a lower fare if they wait, they might also get the dregs of the schedule - crummy times, numerous stops, flying certain dates of the week only, etc. Unfortunately, they have SPECIFIC dates they need to travel and I think if they wait, they may end up not getting what they want. For me, if I KNOW I need to be somewhere on a certain date or time, I go ahead and book it so I don't need to worry about it later. And depending on the airlines, I can get a voucher for the difference to use later.

 

Where do you fly from? Sometimes alternate airports work really well. My friends could save a bunch flying into West Palm Beach, but then of course, they'd have the transportation down to Fort Lauderdale to think about.

 

Do you know about kayak.com, mobissimo.com, orbitz, etc.? Itasoftware.com is a good tool as well. I have been pricing Seattle-whichever Florida airport is cheapest, and US Airways is coming in cheapest, but with their future so uncertain, I am steering my friends away from them. Highest has been Northwest and United. We do not have the luxury of too many low-cost carriers here like the east coast does and are stuck with the big carriers. America West is a decent low cost carrier, but their website is deceiving as the taxes don't show up on the initial search.

 

Good luck! It is frustrating, isn't it?

[chipster]

Sorry .... globaliser wasn't the initial poster - oh well.

[parody]

Because the airline market works on supply and demand

 

Well, for the entire industry this may generally be true. But, other factors (think monopolies) come into play when dealing with specific airlines. As Ben Mutzabaugh from USA Today mentioned recently, "They're [the airlines] also afraid of losing marketshare to rivals offering lower fares." His chat from yesterday can be found at http://cgi1.usatoday.com/mchat/20050308001/tscript.htm

[zydecocruiser]

and sidestep.com

[cme]

I purchased airfare from Seattle to Orlando recently for $243.00 on AA. Typically I pay around $224.00 to $299.00 to Ft. Lauderdale if that is of any help.

 

Carrie