When do you book your airfare?

[3redheads]

Heard back from Airtran today. They put rates up anywhere from 6-9 months before the flight. So I guess I'll keep checking.

 

Thanks for all of the tips!

[wrp96]

does jet blue travel to san juan?? What about southwest, I couldn't get San Juan to come up???

 

Jet Blue flies to San Juan but Southwest does not fly to San Juan.

[Lisichka]

Almost all airlines offer either a cash refund or a voucher if the price goes down. For best results, use yapta to track the fare/flight you are interested in. After you buy a RT, let yapta track it to see if the price came down at all. When it does, it will email you immediately to alert you giving you the chance to get the refund. If you do not want to go after the refund yourself, yapta will do it for you for a 10% fee of the refund.

 

For more info see HERE.

[waterbugohio]

wrp,

 

yeh, I found the same thing. And the flight from Columbus, OH to San Juan on Jet Blue is not direct. I would really like direct. We will even drive to Detroit (3hrs) if it means a direct flight. The last time we went to Cancun we drove to Detroit and still got there faster even with the driving time because of direct flights. There is nothing longer than be anxious to get to vacation and waiting in airports!!!!

[pmshirl]

Almost all airlines offer either a cash refund or a voucher if the price goes down. For best results, use yapta to track the fare/flight you are interested in. After you buy a RT, let yapta track it to see if the price came down at all. When it does, it will email you immediately to alert you giving you the chance to get the refund. If you do not want to go after the refund yourself, yapta will do it for you for a 10% fee of the refund.

 

For more info see HERE.

I use Yapta Tracker and there are times it shows the current price of what I purchased, way lower than what I paid. When I go into the airlines website to check the price of the flight (seconds after yapta tracker quotes me the lower price) the airline price is not lower for my flights. This has happened several times on my Yapta tracker, has it ever happened to anyone else who uses Yapta.com? I do know that US Air will give you a credit , if your exact flight that you book shows a lower fare. Uaually its in the form of a credit voucher for a future flight.

[wrp96]

wrp,

 

yeh, I found the same thing. And the flight from Columbus, OH to San Juan on Jet Blue is not direct. I would really like direct. We will even drive to Detroit (3hrs) if it means a direct flight. The last time we went to Cancun we drove to Detroit and still got there faster even with the driving time because of direct flights. There is nothing longer than be anxious to get to vacation and waiting in airports!!!!

 

 

If you want non-stop, Continental has a non-stop to SJU from Cleveland and then Northwest has a non-stop from Detroit.

[karena1]

I always book as soon as flight open, especially to San Juan. I love the non-stop AA flight, so as soon as I can get it booked, I go for it. Wish SW or JetBlue would fly from Orlando, but they don't. Spirit does, but I don't like the times they offer, so I just go with American.

 

Love SW though for the Dings. I always book our flight early and then watch for Dings. Got my DH's flight to Alb for $119 round trip b/c of the Dings. Learned though to always book one way each. That way if one leg goes down, you aren't cancelling the whole flight and rebooking, only the portion that goes down. Works like a charm!!

[EggDropErin]

It depends. Since we'll be flying out around Thanksgiving (which is the busiest flying time of the year), we booked as early as possible and still got a pretty good deal. Now the flights have doubled for that time. Otherwise, we'll sometimes wait for the less expensive fares.

[waterbugohio]

yeh I found the direct flights from detroit to sju. But the farthest out they book is 5/08.

 

What is the normal time ahead that flights come out or does it vary with each airline?? I need to call and check with Northwest.

 

Also, can any tell me if Northwest is one of the airlines that we can check our luggage directly thru the ship at the end of the cruise??

[nosmothj]

Before you fly?

[wrp96]

The legacy airlines (AA, Delta, Northwest, USAir, United) generally open up bookings at 330 days out. Most of the low cost carriers open up much later than that, I'd say about 6 months out, but there really isn't a general rule on those as it depends on the airline.

[nomoreknothead]

I'm needing to book airfare with southwest for our September 08 cruise, When should I start looking for that time frame? I'm thinking March 08!

[wrp96]

I'm needing to book airfare with southwest for our September 08 cruise, When should I start looking for that time frame? I'm thinking March 08!

 

 

They're currently open through middle of March. According to their site they will open up through middle of May 2008 on November 8th. I'd start watching come February to see what batch they are opening up next and when. They list the next dates they are opening on the Travel Tools link on their website.

[pmshirl]

I checked with Continental Airlines and they charge you if you find the fare dropped for the same flight. It is $100.00 per ticket fee and then you can get a credit after paying the fee. They claim its a reissuing fee to reprint the new ticket. I said you have to be kidding, the ticket stays the same only the price of what you paid changes, still $100.00 fee per ticket!

[3redheads]

I added the Yapta tracker. They don't have it for firefox yet, but I put it on my Internet Explorer. Thanks for the tips!

[nomoreknothead]

wrp96 - Thanks so much! I'll start the air fare watch after I return from our voyager cruise in January!

[Lisichka]

I use Yapta Tracker and there are times it shows the current price of what I purchased, way lower than what I paid. When I go into the airlines website to check the price of the flight (seconds after yapta tracker quotes me the lower price) the airline price is not lower for my flights. This has happened several times on my Yapta tracker, has it ever happened to anyone else who uses Yapta.com? I do know that US Air will give you a credit , if your exact flight that you book shows a lower fare. Uaually its in the form of a credit voucher for a future flight.

 

Not all prices show up on the airline's websites. If yapta found you a cheaper fare, it does exist. If you cannot find it call the airline or have Yapta do the refund for you.

[Abberboo]

I have booked basically the same day or within two days of when I booked the cruise, I havent had luck in the past waiting it out for price drops b/c the airfare for me to San Juan just keeps going up up and up! All the cruises I have been on have left out of San Juan. If I leave out of Florida sometime, I think Ill shop around more for deals on airfare.