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Hi boardies, my husband and I are treating our family to a trip to Negril next March. That means I have to purchase 8 tickets leaving from three different airports. It's not going to be easy to have everyone arrive around the same time but that's the least of my worries. When it's just the two of us I usually buy 3 months before we leave. What would you do? Any thoughts or tips would be appreciated.
I almost always fly Southwest so I purchase as soon as they open -- about 6 months before my trip. I then watch it daily for price drops.
I use this site for finding tickets: https://matrix.itasoftware.com/ You can't book from the site but it gives you lots of information about flights. There are some airlines like Spirit and Southwest that will not show up.
I second Jamerican71's recommendationQuote:
Originally Posted by Rumrunner
SWA has no fee for changing flights except for any change in fare between the dates.
Your money is tied up but can be used within one year of the original ticket
I've been flying on SW points for the last 12 flights. Very convenient
BTW. The best day to check fares on SW is Wednesday.......
Cap
I usually purchase about 60 days out
Once I have travel dates I start checking a couple times a week. I also set up fare alerts at sites like kayak and Orbitz.
When I find a number I like I buy. Have gotten good deals 6-9 months out and just as good 3 months out and under 30 days. Get a feel for prices and wait for a number you can live with.
I do the same thing, but I could never get too close to a trip date without buying! I just don't feel comfortable unless I have my tickets booked. Fortunately we can fly SW from BWI to JA, so we get direct flights and can rebook if the price drops. The piece of mind from knowing my flight is booked is priceless!Quote:
Originally Posted by Ras Walleye
Matrix is a must for analyzing the prices from multiple airlines. Matrix was recently purchased by Google and has become Google Flights. Same information, but with a much slicker interface:Quote:
Originally Posted by Jamerican71
https://www.google.com/flights/?f=0
The other thing I do is price out one-way tickets. I have found that you can sometimes buy it cheaper. The savings might be small but when you multiply that savings by the number of tickets you have to buy then it can make a big difference.
Thanks, everyone!
Have you seen that within the past 18 months? Airline practices on this have changed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jamerican71
mi always buy one way tickets....a lot of benefits in addition to saving money.......Quote:
Originally Posted by wrtiii
mi buy one way tickets for mi return on the night prior to be arriving and then cancel when mi land......
that way mi can decide when mi really want to leave Negril.....
and not some arbitrator date mi picked months earlier...yah mon
as far as when to buy the one way ticket to paradise........mi start looking 90 days out......
and then go with mi gut on when to push da button.....usually mi get the airfare at rock bottom because mi patient.....
anything inside two weeks is a no no usually.......though sometimes the airlines will drop der prices even then.....
really a crap shoot with some past knowledge of when the lowest price will really be......
mi know for mi....buying anything out past 90 days isn't gonna be a great deal.....just the way it is from Florida
Cool Runnings, Marko
Yes, I went to Aruba this past May and it priced out cheaper for 2 one way tickets.Quote:
Originally Posted by wrtiii
Hey ya'll....we pulled the trigger for January out of Mpls. started out bought a one way ticket for $223 non-stop. then tried to figure out when we wanted to come back and got the one way ticket back for $258. So, we were happy with those prices especially non-stop. 4:20 flight time. {grin} Good luck. Yeah, just be happy with the price you choose, and heck, just stay longer, as the flight price is probably the most expensive part of the trip. As Willie Nelson sang..."why don't you just stay a little longer"
Can I ask when you are flying I have been trying to fly out of MSP on Suncountry or Delta nonstop and all over $700 but I am looking at a Sat-Sat starting Jan 21stQuote:
Originally Posted by rocknrollfarmer
Hey mjc12771.....Sunday Jan. 15 --- Wed. Feb. 1st. Sun Country. Yes. Saturdays are more$. Good luck, it just seems to be on the computer at the "right" moment. Prices change a lot during the day it seems. Respect.
Thanks Rocknrollfarmer- I finally gave up and convience my husband to change our dates to include a Friday and we can then fly out of Milwaukee on SW. For some reason SW has no flights to MKE-MBJ on Sat in January. We live in Northern WI so MKE and MSP are both about 4 hour away. I was able to use points for one of the flights and with free baggage I saved about the same as one ticket from MSP. More then made up for the extra night at GP. Plus an extra day in Negril and getting in at 12:45. Worked out perfect. Now to decided on Club Mobay. We used it last visit on a Tues same flight getting in at 1235ish and was a waste of money but this time is a Friday so just not really sure. Decisions. Decisions.Quote:
Originally Posted by rocknrollfarmer
I've booked as far as 9 months before to as little as 5 weeks before..........it's just how comfortable you are with the airfare prices at that time.....biggest suggestion is to always have the funds available to catch a good fare when you see it.....
We bought about 3 weeks ago round trip, nonstop from Minneapolis like Rocknrollfarmer, looks like same times and paid $1 less.
Book holiday sales if you can, fly out midweek, shop online at night Tuesday or Wednesday.
I also like the cell phone app called Hopper. It watches the airline prices and tells you when to buy.
I downloaded this App a few weeks ago and I am still trying to get used to it.Quote:
Originally Posted by staylor0977
holla atcha mjc an rocknrollfarmer! Leaving same place same time for the same beach! Anyone from here understands this pain. Me, im really looking forward to paradise.