Thoughts on airfare for NEXT summer

[SusieV]

I know a lot of you here probably are more experienced at this sort of thing so hopefully someone can help me!

 

Next June my husband and I have to fly to a regional airport for a bridge tournament. The departing flight is available to book, the return flight won't be for another two weeks.

 

Am I better to bite the bullet and pay the current price for these tickets (roughly double what I had estimated) or if I wait, what are the odds that prices will drop, if not back to normal, a little lower?

[RVRoadie]

You might as well be speculating on the price of oil. It seems to me that ticket prices have run up quite a bit, and will likely come down in the future. Nothing kills demand for flying more than high prices.

[JJPNYC]

If you were to ask me last summer to predict this summer I would have been waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off in my projection.

 

Trying to guess where airfares are heading is like trying to predict the weather or stock-market 6-9 months in advance with no additional info to help in the decision making process.

[jayscore]

I've been scanning prices for air fare from MSP to MIA for next April. Last week, it was $1240 RT for the two of us. The other day I saw it dropped to $976, so I booked it. Who knows where these prices are going. If it drops more, I lose, if it goes up, I'll be happy(er). Now, I'm waiting to see how many times my flight times change, or, get canceled.:rolleyes:

[grandmato4]

I know a lot of you here probably are more experienced at this sort of thing so hopefully someone can help me!

 

Next June my husband and I have to fly to a regional airport for a bridge tournament. The departing flight is available to book, the return flight won't be for another two weeks.

 

Am I better to bite the bullet and pay the current price for these tickets (roughly double what I had estimated) or if I wait, what are the odds that prices will drop, if not back to normal, a little lower?

 

I wouldn't be rushing to book any flights for next June but I would be watching the prices closely and if I saw prices that I could live with, then I would be booking quickly realizing that the possibility that flight with those times very likely will change or disappear between now and then based on airlines adjusting flights to try to minimize losses. Watching those prices is interesting to me as they change so often and sometimes so drastically. A few weeks ago on a Saturday night there wasnt a one way flight from FLL to BUF on the date I'm looking for on the major airlines in Feb 09 for less than $400, the next morning there were lots of flights under $400. Just have to keep watching closely.

[Dewana49]

We are in Texas and have a cruise booked next June (09) round-trip from Barcelona. I'm really concerned about the air fare. I kinda want to book now to lock in the current rates, but then I'm thinking maybe they prices will go down. I'm just going to watch and see what happens, plus my TA is watching for me too.

We have been planning this cruise for 2 years now - to celebrate my 60th BD. Guess we can cancel before the final payment is due IF the air fare is higher than the cruise price.

This is just no fun trying to second guess these prices.:confused:

Dewana

[SusieV]

I wish there was a clearcut answer. Right now the price of airfare is enough to make me think twice about going, but we don't really have a choice.

 

Toronto to Penticton is $1350pp right now! I don't care if they move the time of day or whatnot as long as we can go, but I was kind of hoping for flights in the $600-700 range.

[PennyAgain]

I'm booking tickets I need for the autumn and winter, but not later than Jan. 09. I may be very sorry! This whole situation is changing so much!

 

I waited too long to book flights for late September and they went up 40%. You think I'd learned a lesson.

[Cruise Junky]

I wish there was a clearcut answer. Right now the price of airfare is enough to make me think twice about going, but we don't really have a choice.

 

Toronto to Penticton is $1350pp right now! I don't care if they move the time of day or whatnot as long as we can go, but I was kind of hoping for flights in the $600-700 range.

 

Can't you fly into Vancouver and then drive? you can do Penticton in under 4 hours from YVR. Or fly into Kelowna and drive down, about 30 min.

[chipmaster]

I know a lot of you here probably are more experienced at this sort of thing so hopefully someone can help me!

 

Next June my husband and I have to fly to a regional airport for a bridge tournament. The departing flight is available to book, the return flight won't be for another two weeks.

 

Am I better to bite the bullet and pay the current price for these tickets (roughly double what I had estimated) or if I wait, what are the odds that prices will drop, if not back to normal, a little lower?

 

Next summer is eon's in airline years. Between the re-alignment of flights going on this fall and the mystery of where oil prices will land could result in no change, very much higher prices, or even NO flights as airlines struggle with what is the final sustainable business model.

 

Regional jets with multiple flights into small cities will be memories of the past.

 

As much as I'd like oil to be back to even 75 bucks a barrel the higher likelyhood is > 100 bucks and more likely above 125 dollars. NO USA airliner has a business model that sustains today's ticket prices, routes and makes money at 125 dollar oil :mad:

 

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/06/23/airline.schedule.cuts/index.html

[Cruise Junky]

I did some checking on Kayak, you'd be way better off to fly into Kelowna and drive down to Penticton. Only about 1/2 hour....and a beautiful drive down the lake. Westjet flies direct from Pearson to Kelowna. I punched in prices for September, direct was coming up at about $745, one stop both ways in Edmonton was $691.

[greatam]

I'm booking tickets I need for the autumn and winter, but not later than Jan. 09. I may be very sorry! This whole situation is changing so much!

 

I waited too long to book flights for late September and they went up 40%. You think I'd learned a lesson.

 

And I'm booking all tickets, especially international, as far out as possible.

 

IF anyone thinks China is backing off stockpiling/using oil, they are sadly mistaken. China is plopping down tank farms everyplace they can to stockpile oil. They are also building refineries as rapidly as possible. We don't have that luxury-too many environmental rules. China is adding TWELVE HUNDRED cars per day-middle class Chinese are abandoning their bicycles/motor scooters VERY rapidly. The new Ford plant in Chongqing CANNOT keep up with demand.

 

Unless the WORLD economy tanks in a big way, I see no relief to oil prices. The OPEC oil minister meeting was a bust-most of the Ministers stated everyone should pay more.

[PennyAgain]

greatam, as usual you are a very wise woman. The travel budget for my team has not been established for 2009. (I had guessed that a 40% increase would be enough, but that has already been proven wrong.)

 

I have a strong belief we will have more of 'Go to Meeting' online meetings and fewer face to face.

 

We have monthly prizes at our office. The prizes used to be Starbucks and Barnes and Nobel gift cards with a few for Amazon.com, but the gift cards are groceries and gas cards.

 

Signs of the times!

[Strawberry]

I also agree with Greatam regarding booking international tickets as far out as possible. I have already booked air for our cruise (Newark to Lisbon returning Rome to Newark) for May 2009. I used Continental Airlines because they had direct flights and with the assumption that they are in good financial health!

[Cruise Junky]

I also agree with Greatam regarding booking international tickets as far out as possible.

 

Sadly, they haven't moved Toronto out of the country ;) Toronto to Penticton is a domestic flight.

 

But I completely agree about international flights. Our upcoming Greek Islands cruise I booked one ticket on points and had to pay cash for the other one...I booked the first day FF tickets were available. Vancouver - London and the Paris to Vancouver on Air Canada...$1,160 including taxes and fuel surcharge. Same flights right now are going for about $2,600

[SusieV]

Hmm. I just checked flying into Kelowna and it's $1100 instead of $1300, but we'd have to take a cab and that would be maybe $100. We can't rent a car, my husband and I never got our licenses because we take public transit everywhere. That rules Vancouver out too.

 

So far it looks like June is going to be high everywhere. I'm nervous to wait because if they cancel flights there may be limited service to Penticton but I just can't pay this much to go :(

[Cruise Junky]

Hmm. I just checked flying into Kelowna and it's $1100 instead of $1300, but we'd have to take a cab and that would be maybe $100. We can't rent a car, my husband and I never got our licenses because we take public transit everywhere. That rules Vancouver out too.

 

So far it looks like June is going to be high everywhere. I'm nervous to wait because if they cancel flights there may be limited service to Penticton but I just can't pay this much to go :(

 

Check out Pacific Coast (or coastal, can't remember which) air from Vancouver, they're a small regional carrier that goes into these small places. I don't think you have to book this far in advance to come to BC. Maybe there's bus service from Kelowna to Penticton?

[Strawberry]

Hello Cruise Junky -Actually yes, I do know that Toronto and Penticton are not in the US and I was not specifically responding regarding Canadian travel.

But rather, I was just agreeing with one of Greatam's more general postings on this thread where she wrote: "And I'm booking all tickets, especially international, as far out as possible."

[malowe701]

Couldn't you and your husband learn to drive and get driver's licenses by then? :)

[NCMtnBoys]

We have been planning this cruise for 2 years now - to celebrate my 60th BD.

 

We have a cruise planned next April departing from Venice and I have not yet booked the air. It's not that I'm surprised how high the ticket prices are - how could anyone be surprised with the high fuel costs - but I'm soooo hoping they'll go down some! Yes, it's a risk to wait, but the airfare cost right now is more than the cruise. The cruise itself is just $699 per person so chances are our airfare will cost more than the cruise regardless whether the prices go down. Plus, we're going to purchase a separate land package prior to the cruise, from a separate company, which will include airfare to ROME, three nights hotel in Rome, train between Rome and Venice, three nights hotel in Venice, then embark the ship in Venice for 7 nights, then disembark the ship in Venice and pick up our package airfare to come home. Prices for that package are not much more than just the round trip airfare to Venice. And since we'll be going that far, it almost behooves us to see more of Italy than just Venice.

 

This cruise/trip is to celebrate my 40th BD (birthday in March, but can't get away til April and they don't have this itinerary before April anyway). Because it is to celebrate a "milestone" birthday I have no plans to cancel, regardless of cost. If it were birthday #36 or #42 or whatever, then I wouldn't have planned something so extravagant. But we only live once and I wanted to do something BIG for my BIG 4-0. I've been to Europe three times previously (including Venice), but not to any of the four ports of call on this cruise (Dubrovnik, Kusadasi, Santorini and Corfu).

 

Jon and Mark