Historical fares/ fares when bookings first open

[TMC]

I have found some sites that will watch your fare for drops, but I am wondering if any show what fares have been previously.

 

We booked Alaska for June 2016 in July this year. Since then the fare has gone up twice already. i thought we would get a pretty decent deal booking almost a year out. I know some will wonder why I would want to know what I did not get, but if booking 18 months out gets a much better deal we could go somewhere else in 2016 and book Alaska for 2017 as soon as it becomes open to book.

 

I do want to decide before February if Alaska will be 2016 or 2017. If anyone can give me a clue about finding fare history I would really appreciate it.

 

Thanks,

TMC

[Golfin55]

My personal experience is book early. You will get your pick of cabin type and location. Also, the pricing structure has changed. The early booking deals have been some of the lowest fares recently. As the industry is adopting this practice. You will see less and less last minute unbeatable cruise deals.

 

And you can always cancel and rebook in most circumstances.

[mugtech]

My personal experience is book early. You will get your pick of cabin type and location. Also, the pricing structure has changed. The early booking deals have been some of the lowest fares recently. As the industry is adopting this practice. You will see less and less last minute unbeatable cruise deals.

 

And you can always cancel and rebook in most circumstances.

 

In addition for booking more than 9 months ahead of time you will get double Latitudes points and could also get AARP discounts. We saved hundreds of dollars by booking Grand Med early, but would have had a cheaper cruise if we had done last minute for the Sun's 19 day Panama Canal cruise, but only about $150 each with less Latitudes points and who knows which cabin.

[MtreJ]

I have found some sites that will watch your fare for drops, but I am wondering if any show what fares have been previously.

Thanks,

TMC

 

When fishing, click Stats, then the Past Prices tab, followed by the select the Cruise Line and Ship. Should find what you are looking for.

[insidecabin]

That site is not complete, it does have holes in the historic data but is a good guide to where prices have gone in the past for a particular itinerary.

 

As ships move around you need to have an idea which ship did the trips in the past.

 

Eg. Epic is now the winter ship in the med/canaries, previous years shared by Jade/Spirit.

[watchdiva]

We got a smoking hot deal on our 2016 Alaska 10 day on the Pearl next May. Even our PCC mentioned that he didn't recall ever seeing our suite priced that low. We got the cabin we wanted for an unbelievably good price and that same cabin is now selling for $1300 per person more than we paid! We have always booked early so that we can the exact cabin we want.

[Leavethekidswithmom]

When fishing, click Stats, then the Past Prices tab, followed by the select the Cruise Line and Ship. Should find what you are looking for.

 

 

Thanks, I had no clue you could do that there!

[jakesnana]

In the past year or so, it has become the norm that the best pricing will be offered as soon as an itinerary is introduced, especially with cruise lines declaring that they will not be deeply discounting cruise fares close in.

 

IF you should find a less expensive price after you book (due to a limited sale by the cruise line), you could always have your fare adjusted but you would still have the benefit of getting the exact cabin you wanted.

[CRUZIN TOM]

You will find that the Alaska cruises are just about the most expensive cruises out there. We live in the Seattle area, did Alaska once. Just too expensive. Its cheaper for us to fly to LA and do a cruise out of there cheaper. But the upside, if you've never been to Alaska, its a great cruise. You can see land most of the time while cruising, green, green everywhere. Always book a balcony or better cabin.

[Budget Queen]

You will find that the Alaska cruises are just about the most expensive cruises out there. We live in the Seattle area, did Alaska once. Just too expensive. Its cheaper for us to fly to LA and do a cruise out of there cheaper. But the upside, if you've never been to Alaska, its a great cruise. You can see land most of the time while cruising, green, green everywhere. Always book a balcony or better cabin.

 

Every year- there are PLENTY of bargains with Alaska cruises- late booked. I pick them up every year- including this year for 3 sailings, (plus one - booked in advance)

[Budget Queen]

I have found some sites that will watch your fare for drops, but I am wondering if any show what fares have been previously.

 

We booked Alaska for June 2016 in July this year. Since then the fare has gone up twice already. i thought we would get a pretty decent deal booking almost a year out. I know some will wonder why I would want to know what I did not get, but if booking 18 months out gets a much better deal we could go somewhere else in 2016 and book Alaska for 2017 as soon as it becomes open to book.

 

I do want to decide before February if Alaska will be 2016 or 2017. If anyone can give me a clue about finding fare history I would really appreciate it.

 

Thanks,

TMC

 

All information is hindsight. The more flexible you are, the lower possible rates.

 

The only way to get the "lowest" price- is to BOOK when first listed- including double/triple booking- if flexible, AND keeping track of pricing trends, readjusting to lower rates you qualify for.

 

IF you want the lowest rates- AND very flexible- then the last minute deals are the answer.

[TMC]

Thanks to all. Yep, Alaska is expensive and I could have saved a couple hundred had I booked 4 or 5 months earlier than I did. Hopefully we can plan further in advance for next time. I will watch for drops, but not too optimistic. Don't think last minute would work well for us since we need to fly to port.

 

I did go fishing and had great luck there. I was able to find pricing from this summer's cruises and in the stats when looking at my cruise, when I click on the current price, it shows when the prices changed and what they started at. The 2015 pricing was confusing as the standard rate showed lower than the AARP.. Would this be because the AARP discount is deducted from fares booked early and the standard fare was what it fell to when they had last minute sales?

 

TMC

[mugtech]

The Sun 17 day cruise from San Diego to Santiago this November is currently listed at inside for $599, while the exact same cruise in November 2016 is listed as $1,399 for an inside. Perhaps the lower price this year is because it is the return to South America, I wish I could go in 2015. I will be interested to see how the 2016 prices change over the next year.