Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

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28fe6
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Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by 28fe6 »

I need to fly from Idaho to Ohio in late summer for a wedding. Historically this was $300/ticket if you got a good deal, maybe $400-450 if it was a peak time, but still a good route with a reasonable layover.

Now I'm seeing $600 per ticket minimum, and that's with absurd routes like overnight flights with multi - hour layovers. A decent route is like $1000! I literally can't afford that.

What's going on here? It's still almost two months away...is there any chance it will get better or only worse?
jlawrence01
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by jlawrence01 »

28fe6 wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 1:12 am I need to fly from Idaho to Ohio in late summer for a wedding. Historically this was $300/ticket if you got a good deal, maybe $400-450 if it was a peak time, but still a good route with a reasonable layover.

Now I'm seeing $600 per ticket minimum, and that's with absurd routes like overnight flights with multi - hour layovers. A decent route is like $1000! O literally can't afford that.

What's going on here? It's still almost two months away...is there any chance it will get better or only worse?

Google "ITA Software." It is a slower version of Google Flights that allow you to compare the flights from several airports to several airports. It does a great job in doing "what if" analyses. There are at least six major airports that are a reasonable drive from Ohio's three major airports.

Flights are crazy this year. Generally, I fly TUS-CVG which has always been a one stop flight with a three hour layover at either Denver or Chicago-Midway on Southwest. However, the only flights available in early November include two stops with a two hour layover at MDW.

The ONLY advice is to book ASAP.
Pyramid44
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by Pyramid44 »

Yes, fares are going up, (and up and up).

I fly SEA <> BOS on a regular basis and have seen costs more than double since the turn of the year.

Fuel costs for airlines are going up and of course this gets reflected in ticket prices.

Add on the pressures of fewer crews available, which limits flights, and in turn means fuller flights and fewer chances at a previously cheap fare.

if you have rewards points of any type it is a good time to use them if you have them to help out on using cash/credit.

As advised above, book early. It hasn’t been getting any cheaper.

Depending on where your are departing in Idaho (Spokane, Boise) consider driving to the nearest major (SEA, SLC). Feeder flights are getting cut by the majors lately.
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rich126
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by rich126 »

Honestly it is best to avoid flying, if not for costs, then to avoid the large number of delays, cancellations, etc. on all airlines.
The next best thing is to have flexible schedules and plan a long time ahead. My wife finally found a decent airfare but it won't be until mid-September. Although we wouldn't mind flying back to AZ to visit family/friends, the cost is high and I have zero interest in dealing with hassles/stress with airports.

Unfortunately for now, this is the new normal (kind of like driving 80 on highways with limited enforcement). Cut back your flying or adjust your budget. The airlines dug themselves a deep hole and they aren't going to recover for a while. I think they assumed post-covid, after firing a bunch of people, many experienced ones, they could easily hire and dictate terms when they needed to hire new people. Well, that was totally wrong and they can't hire people for anything close to the rates they are offering, and the ones they do hire are very inexperienced or not very good employees.

I work for a large federal agency and lets say, offices have been bleeding people for quite some time. A purchasing office lost 75% of their people (people want to work from home and want more pay). A friend at a lower grade (GS12 for those in the know) and not exactly young, was just offered a $100K pay bump to go work for a contractor. I'm hanging on until the end of the year and hope to cash in for a year before fully retiring.
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MDfan
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by MDfan »

Just flew from Oahu to Baltimore and there was very little hassle or stress at the airports. Can't comment on prices because we bought tickets for the 3 flights we have coming up earlier this year or late last year. Flying to Denver from Baltimore in August for about $350 RT on SW.
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JoeRetire
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by JoeRetire »

28fe6 wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 1:12 am Now I'm seeing $600 per ticket minimum, and that's with absurd routes like overnight flights with multi - hour layovers. A decent route is like $1000! I literally can't afford that.
Consider driving instead.
What's going on here?
Market forces.
It's still almost two months away...is there any chance it will get better or only worse?
No idea. But if you don't book now, you may not find a seat.
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OnTrack2020
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by OnTrack2020 »

28fe6 wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 1:12 am I need to fly from Idaho to Ohio in late summer for a wedding. Historically this was $300/ticket if you got a good deal, maybe $400-450 if it was a peak time, but still a good route with a reasonable layover.

Now I'm seeing $600 per ticket minimum, and that's with absurd routes like overnight flights with multi - hour layovers. A decent route is like $1000! I literally can't afford that.

What's going on here? It's still almost two months away...is there any chance it will get better or only worse?
I think, realistically, a $600 round-trip ticket purely from a financial standpoint is better than driving at this point, considering it's about 2,000 driving miles one-way from Idaho to Ohio at around $5 a gallon gas, plus the added cost of hotels and meals. However, if you cannot afford $1,000, then best not to drive because gas, hotels, and meals are almost certain to cost a little over $1,000 if I did the calculations correctly. You can probably book some Airbnb lodging to keep costs down.

The other thing is that, at least currently, you are taking a lot of risk flying with all the flight cancellations and delays that seem to be happening daily. Noone knows what will happen with airlines, but I'm not sure their problems are going to go away in the next few months. I would purchase some trip insurance at the very least for flight cancellation/delays.
valleyrock
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by valleyrock »

I've been a fan of Skyscanner. It's an app and online also, I believe.

There are some who say buying tickets on Tuesday or Wednesday helps get lowest prices. There are some websites that discuss such things.

Bear in mind that the airlines collect data on all your searches, so they can offer you prices that reflect what they believe is your level of interest at the time you search. They're using psychology. One method to avoid this sort of targeting is to use a VPN so they won't know it's you coming back to search.
poker27
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by poker27 »

Just flew Chicago to Vegas, which use to be $300ish round trip.

Went off peak days, and had less than ideal flights, including a red eye home. Was $1k. Gotta suck it up these days.
MDfan
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by MDfan »

poker27 wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 9:57 am Just flew Chicago to Vegas, which use to be $300ish round trip.

Went off peak days, and had less than ideal flights, including a red eye home. Was $1k. Gotta suck it up these days.


Not sure what airline that was or whether you were in 1st class, but we bought tickets on SW from Baltimore to Denver for $350 RT. Flying on a Thursday morning and coming home Monday afternoon. Just out of curiosity I looked at Baltimore to Vegas for next month and see multiple RT flights for $500.
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by Outer Marker »

Fares to places like Idaho are significantly impacted by the imbalance in the supply and demand curve going on right now in the industry. Service to many smaller communities is being scaled back or eliminated. There's no good answer, but if you can drive to a larger hub like Salt Lake City, Seattle, or potentially Bozeman, you're like to get better fares. Given the current cost of gas and other factors, however, it may not produce any real net savings. Signing up for an airline promo credit card will likely yield you a $200 statement credit and enough bonus miles for an off peak trip somewhere.
MGBMartin
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by MGBMartin »

I don’t believe in the Cheap Airfare Fairy.
Some websites are OK for looking up schedules and potential fares but I always book via the airline’s own website.
Some of these search engines direct you to a third party ticket seller who do not have live prices. If you use one of these you will not be buying an air ticket directly you are just asking the site to try find you a ticket for the price they touted.
I’m not talking about the big names like Expedia, Travelocity, but lesser known names that have poor reputations and near zero customer service.

Best thing is to book direct with the airline that way if things go wrong you can deal with the airline and not some third party.
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rockstar
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by rockstar »

They're expensive now. I'm flying to Knoxville to hit the Smokes and my flight was over $1k. It's nuts now.
Johnny Thinwallet
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by Johnny Thinwallet »

We booked flights for our summer travel back in early March, and I'm glad we did. Both were originally booked as direct, non-stop flights directly with the airlines.

Trip 1 is already in the books. Delta eliminated the non-stop route on our way home and automatically re-booked us with a 90-minute layover in ATL. I was disappointed, but options were limited to find an alternative non-stop route (even switching to other airlines) and at least it was the return flight coming home so it didn't cut into our vacation. We sucked it up and dealt with it. All 3 planes we flew (1 down, 2 back home) were completely full. Airports were busy, but not overly crowded. Security lines were 10-15 minutes. Bag drop lines ranged from walk-up to a 20 minute wait. The food court in our ATL layover terminal was the busiest area we encountered.

Trip 2 is coming up in a few weeks, also booked as a direct, non-stop flight on American. Fingers crossed, but so far everything is on as scheduled with that trip. I've loaded the route into FlightAware, and the route is flying as scheduled each day (sometimes with a delay). Current airfare for that trip is now 2x higher than what we paid for it back in early March.

This is a sample size of 1 experience, though, so take it for what it's worth.
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Watty
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by Watty »

In your planning be sure to also look into the rental car situation if you will need one and book one early.

I have not rented one recently but people have posted that in some areas they can be expensive or hard to get. This might not be widespread but in you need one when something major is going on then you need to be prepared for that.
28fe6 wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 1:12 am in late summer
If that is going into Labor Day day weekend or when the colleges are getting ready to start that can be a very busy travel time which could be part of the problem.
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by hicabob »

Yup on the rental cars - I reserved one for first week in August - $600. Funny thing is that a "premium car" or a Ford F150 is cheaper than a compact right now. Costco.com is an excellent site for rental cars for Costco members.
rich126
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by rich126 »

Johnny Thinwallet wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 11:01 am We booked flights for our summer travel back in early March, and I'm glad we did. Both were originally booked as direct, non-stop flights directly with the airlines.

Trip 1 is already in the books. Delta eliminated the non-stop route on our way home and automatically re-booked us with a 90-minute layover in ATL. I was disappointed, but options were limited to find an alternative non-stop route (even switching to other airlines) and at least it was the return flight coming home so it didn't cut into our vacation. We sucked it up and dealt with it. All 3 planes we flew (1 down, 2 back home) were completely full. Airports were busy, but not overly crowded. Security lines were 10-15 minutes. Bag drop lines ranged from walk-up to a 20 minute wait. The food court in our ATL layover terminal was the busiest area we encountered.

Trip 2 is coming up in a few weeks, also booked as a direct, non-stop flight on American. Fingers crossed, but so far everything is on as scheduled with that trip. I've loaded the route into FlightAware, and the route is flying as scheduled each day (sometimes with a delay). Current airfare for that trip is now 2x higher than what we paid for it back in early March.

This is a sample size of 1 experience, though, so take it for what it's worth.
I will point out that your terminology is a bit confusing. Airlines use the term "direct" flight to mean it goes from one city to another however it includes one or more stops along the way without change of planes. A nonstop flight goes from A to B with no stops at all.

I see people here often talk about direct flights like they are nonstop flights but that is wrong.
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poker27
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by poker27 »

MDfan wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 10:06 am
poker27 wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 9:57 am Just flew Chicago to Vegas, which use to be $300ish round trip.

Went off peak days, and had less than ideal flights, including a red eye home. Was $1k. Gotta suck it up these days.


Not sure what airline that was or whether you were in 1st class, but we bought tickets on SW from Baltimore to Denver for $350 RT. Flying on a Thursday morning and coming home Monday afternoon. Just out of curiosity I looked at Baltimore to Vegas for next month and see multiple RT flights for $500.
Was definitely not first. I just ran it again for a month out, and it was about $400 for not ideal nonstop flights. I did go for work, and it might have been super expensive due to some conferences
John Z
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by John Z »

Have you checked the Southwest site? Not knowing your cities/dates, I just plugged in Boise-Columbus late August and see numerous flights via Denver for $454 bottom line.
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by 02nz »

jlawrence01 wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 4:24 am Google "ITA Software." It is a slower version of Google Flights that allow you to compare the flights from several airports to several airports. It does a great job in doing "what if" analyses. There are at least six major airports that are a reasonable drive from Ohio's three major airports.
Why would you use a slower version of Google Flights to compare flights from multiple airports? You can do that on Google Flights, up to 7 origin airports and up to 7 destination airports - i.e., you can do 49 searches all at once.
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by mrspock »

FWIW, I’ve been flying regularly for over a year now, after my covid hiatus… no problems. Flying out of sf bay area airports.

No cancellations, no staffing problems. Buy early, check-in as soon as possible (dictates bumping order), and fly biz class if you can afford it (biz class rarely is bumped).

Use Google Flights, click on + sign in the “Where from?” box (same thing in “Where to?”) to add multiple airports if you want to see your options from any of them (e.g. SFO, OAK, SJC -> Wherever). Book about 45d-30d in advance for best pricing (Google shows price history). Southwest you will need to check manually, they don’t show in Google flights :/ .
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28fe6
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by 28fe6 »

Thanks for the advice.
Book about 45d-30d in advance for best pricing
This is the heart of the question. Should I book what I can find now, or wait 2 or three weeks and keep checking? That will still be over 30 days out.
sandburg
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by sandburg »

Set a price alert on Google Flights for your route and date.
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by sunny_socal »

JoeRetire wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 7:41 am
28fe6 wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 1:12 am Now I'm seeing $600 per ticket minimum, and that's with absurd routes like overnight flights with multi - hour layovers. A decent route is like $1000! I literally can't afford that.
Consider driving instead.
What's going on here?
Market forces.
It's still almost two months away...is there any chance it will get better or only worse?
No idea. But if you don't book now, you may not find a seat.
Consider driving instead? Have you bought gas recently? It's now 3x the price compared to the "good old days" less than two years ago. Flying is certainly cheaper.
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by jmw »

28fe6 wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 1:12 am I need to fly from Idaho to Ohio in late summer for a wedding.

A decent route is like $1000! I literally can't afford that.
Wish them a nice wedding. I wouldn't go if it will put you into financial straits. Your needs come first.
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by seawolf21 »

28fe6 wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 5:12 pm Thanks for the advice.
Book about 45d-30d in advance for best pricing
This is the heart of the question. Should I book what I can find now, or wait 2 or three weeks and keep checking? That will still be over 30 days out.
IMO, booking 45d-30d only works for off-peak. I think the ship has sailed for peak summer travel.

45d-30d window is one of the windows when airline evaluate how full the flights are and make cheaper inventory available if seats sold are not meeting forecast. But summer travel is peak, so chances are more than likely seats sold is at or exceed forecast resulting in no need to make cheaper seats available.

Consolation prize if you buy a ticket now with certain airlines such as UA and AA (not sure about others) and the fare drops, you can get the difference in the form of a credit for future travel with that airline as long as travel takes place within the next 12 months.

As an example, so if you buy a ticket on AA now for $750 (and use Google Flights to monitor fares) and the fare drops to $600, you have to call to get your ticket to be reissued for $600 with a $150 future credit to be used within 12 months.
island
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by island »

Timely thread, hoping to learn from.
Spouse also flying to Ohio (from CA) for a wedding about same time. Was ~ $450 a few mos ago, but now cheapest is over $900! Unfortunately didn’t know itinerary or length of stay until now. Checking into cobbling together something more reasonable w frequent flyer miles, before pulling the trigger on purchase early this week.
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by chazas »

I just did connections on AA from DC to Dallas because the nonstops were so expensive. My SO can’t afford to go home to Fresno from
DC because all flights are more than $1000. It’s nuts.
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JoeRetire
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by JoeRetire »

sunny_socal wrote: Sun Jun 26, 2022 5:02 pm
JoeRetire wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 7:41 am
28fe6 wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 1:12 am Now I'm seeing $600 per ticket minimum, and that's with absurd routes like overnight flights with multi - hour layovers. A decent route is like $1000! I literally can't afford that.
Consider driving instead.
What's going on here?
Market forces.
It's still almost two months away...is there any chance it will get better or only worse?
No idea. But if you don't book now, you may not find a seat.
Consider driving instead? Have you bought gas recently? It's now 3x the price compared to the "good old days" less than two years ago. Flying is certainly cheaper.
That was kinda my point.

I guess you could Hitchhike.
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by grabiner »

Consider how much convenience is worth, and then consider alternative routes.

Also, airlines rarely have minimum-stay requirements, so booking a round trip as two separate one-way flights is often the best deal. You may do this on two different airlines, or even on the same airline going to and from different airports.

You may need to check manually; not all airlines allow a search for all airports in a city, and if your origin or destination is between two cities, the airports may not be co-terminals. For example, when I lived in Princeton, NJ, my preferred airport was Newark, but I could also drive to Philadelphia. A search for Newark and nearby airports would not help because it would find flights from La Guardia and Kennedy, which are both on the other side of New York City and thus an unreasonable drive.

The higher fares are, the more likely there is to be a difference worth the inconvenience of driving to a more distant airport, or making a connection.

Another tip is to leverage your frequent-flyer miles. Find out the average value of a mile on an airline to you. For me, it's 1 cent on American, 1.5 cents on United because I have a United credit card and often fly out of the United hub in Dulles. This is another option to check, and again adjust for convenience; I won't pay 25,000 miles to fly out of Dulles if I can buy a ticket for $400 out of BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, which is closer to my home. (Conversely, I will pay this if the flight out of Dulles is nonstop while BWI requires a connection, as that is a major advantage.)
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by Chardo »

02nz wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 1:04 pm
jlawrence01 wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 4:24 am Google "ITA Software." It is a slower version of Google Flights that allow you to compare the flights from several airports to several airports. It does a great job in doing "what if" analyses. There are at least six major airports that are a reasonable drive from Ohio's three major airports.
Why would you use a slower version of Google Flights to compare flights from multiple airports? You can do that on Google Flights, up to 7 origin airports and up to 7 destination airports - i.e., you can do 49 searches all at once.
Don't know why that person said it's slower. It's not. I use ITA Matrix all the time.
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by dknightd »

28fe6 wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 5:12 pm This is the heart of the question. Should I book what I can find now, or wait 2 or three weeks and keep checking? That will still be over 30 days out.
I would book now if you want to go. I would use "emergency" funds if required. After all, how often does your friend get married. This is hopefully a one time expense so I could justify dipping into my emergency fund if I really wanted to go.

For some friends I'd find a way to get there. For other friends I might just say sorry, can't make it.

Sometimes flight prices can vary a lot. Sometimes just leaving a day earlier, or later, can make a big difference. The more flexible you can be the better.
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by BrownEyedGirl_27 »

jmw wrote: Sun Jun 26, 2022 5:13 pm
28fe6 wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 1:12 am I need to fly from Idaho to Ohio in late summer for a wedding.

A decent route is like $1000! I literally can't afford that.
Wish them a nice wedding. I wouldn't go if it will put you into financial straits. Your needs come first.
+1. Don’t go into debt for a wedding. Consider revising your RSVP saying you can no longer attend (calling the couple is best). And send a wedding gift that works for your budget.
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by Outer Marker »

If you have the time, check Amtrak. It’s a “lifestyle choice” but always wanted to do cross country by train. Amtrak was less than half the cost of air on regional routes in the northeast. As noted above, window for booking discount air this summer is long past.
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by 8foot7 »

I can count on one hand and have fingers left over the number of people for whom I'd pay $1,000 per person per plane ticket to attend their wedding. Get them a nice gift and tell them you'll meet up with them at a destination some other time.
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by Wannaretireearly »

Go thru the flight/seating selection and see how full it is? Prices do change all the time. Peak period travel sucks. Good luck OP!
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Re: Buying plane tickets right now...tips?

Post by jlawrence01 »

Chardo wrote: Mon Jun 27, 2022 4:12 am
02nz wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 1:04 pm
jlawrence01 wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 4:24 am Google "ITA Software." It is a slower version of Google Flights that allow you to compare the flights from several airports to several airports. It does a great job in doing "what if" analyses. There are at least six major airports that are a reasonable drive from Ohio's three major airports.
Why would you use a slower version of Google Flights to compare flights from multiple airports? You can do that on Google Flights, up to 7 origin airports and up to 7 destination airports - i.e., you can do 49 searches all at once.
Don't know why that person said it's slower. It's not. I use ITA Matrix all the time.
ITA Software took 10 seconds longer than Google Flights and provided me with a lot more information. That gave me the time to refresh my beverage.

In the early 1990s, I got access to a program called EAASY SABRE ( a predecessor to Travelocity) and taught myself how to use it from 2 - 5 am while working as a night auditor at a hotel. I used to use it to demonstrate to the corporation I was working at to prove to them that they were overpaying 15-25% on most tickets through their corporate travel agent. I did the same with my wife's employer.
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