Cheap Air Tickets

[Doe Be Doe]

Hello. Is there a secret or trick to getting cheap airline tickets? Are there websites you'd recommend? I want to go to LA and to Miami. Both destinations are simply to meet guys I've seen on Rentboy and who are well reviewed so I can go anytime. Most air websites require you to enter a specific travel date. Some give the option of traveling +/- 1 to 3 days. But is there a way to find the cheapest ticket from A to B within, say the next two or three months without specifying the dates?

 

Thanks.

[btmstudnyc]

Not sure about the other cheap sites, but I like HOTWIRE.com You can actually use the Flexible Date Search - Search a 30-day range for low fares. It gives the option for Weekend, 2-4 days, 3-5 days etc. So you will see a calendar for each option with the price for each day you would leave. (for example a 2 day trip calendar, a 3 day trip calendar and a 4 day trip calendar for the 2-4 nights option chosen.) It also highlights the cheapest fare. You can book this with hotel and car too. Hotwire includes all fees so please realize that some other sites charge you taxes, airport etc fees. Hotwire is the bottomline price.

 

The other option is Priceline.com....but you have to keep putting in the numbers for a definite date and just totally lowball it...at least 40% what you saw on orbitz.com. Or....if you find a cheap flight on Hotwire.com....put in the same dates in priceline.com and see if you can get 20-30% off that. Sorry if this seems like too much work....the Hotwire.com option is the best though.

[Doe Be Doe]

Thanks.

[instudiocity]

DBD, the airlines see their seats as a commodity - it they're not sold by departure time, it's lost revenue. So they program their computers to generate the maximum revenue per flight. But they also program their computers so that they don't give money away on each seat unless necessary. Given those two facts, you can expect the airlines to charge a higher fare the closer to the departure date, usually beginning 7 days out and rising right up until the gate closes.

 

Airlines know that people who book fares early are pretty much price tolerant, they just want the ticket and they want it now! So from the time the flight opens for booking until about 3-4 weeks before the departure, the price of the tickets will be relatively high. As the flight books up, you'll see the pricing rise. If the flight doesn't start booking up, 3-4 weeks ahead of departure you'll see the prices decline. So in that 28 to 21-day before departure window, you'll probably see the lowest prices available for the flight. You may see low prices right up to 14 days before departure.

 

There is also what I call a SouthWest phenomenon - the other airlines will match SouthWest's lowest fare on their flights - they will only allocate a portion of seats to that fare, but if you see Southwest's lowest fare no longer available, you might still be able to get that same fare on another airline for a few more hours/days. There's something about matching SouthWest's lowest fare and getting some passengers away from SouthWest that just gets the egos in the head shed happy...

 

So I'd suggest you can check this out by looking at one particular flight route on Expedia or Travelocity (formerly owned by AMR -American's parent) or any other aggregator. Look at the route tomorrow, in 8 days, in 15 days, in 21 days and in 28 days. The longest time frame will be around the same as the shortest and the middle time frames will be lower.

 

Then go to SouthWest and do the same thing (SouthWest doesn't sell through the aggregators)... whadda ya know, same route on SouthWest is nearly the same as that 21 day advance purchase price on the legacy airlines... interesting.

[down_to_business]

Try bing.com. Not only does it give you prices but usually a link to historical pricing and predictions of rising or falling prices on the route.

 

For example: NY to LA on Memorial Day Weekend gives the following:

 

 

New York, NY (LGA) to Los Angeles, CA (LAX)

 

Sat, 05/25 - Tue, 05/28·1 adult·Economy·

Lowest fare: $351·Average fare: $364·(Economy Fares Only)

Tip: Wait·Fares dropping $50+·80%+ Confidence

[wayout]

Give a look at airfarewatchdog. ( http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/) and see if that helps you at all.

[Doe Be Doe]

Thanks again. Now just figure it all out!

[jankeedaddy]

I just had a look at Hotwire for the first time in a long time. Their feature "Our lowest price" was $100 less than the other cheapest fare, but............ They would only say Flight details

Orig city Dest City

Depart date: Wed, Apr 10

Departs between 6am and 10pm

Return date: Tue, Apr 23

Departs between 6am and 10pm

 

Price summary

Flight

Round-trip ticket: silkAirPriceWithNoBookingFee:$283.00

Passengers: 1

Booking fee: $0.00

Subtotal: silkAirBookingFee:$283.00

Trip total: silkgetTotalPriceWithAddOns:$283.00

 

 

 

You had to BUY the ticket to find out what the flight times were, the duration and the airline (like a Priceline bid). Does anyone have any experience with this "deal"? I really wouldn't want to end up with 2 changes of plane and a 14 hour flight on a 4 hour route.

[Steven_Draker]

Depending on where are you located and whether Southwest Airlines comes to your city, you might want to check their nationwide sale starting at $59 one-way. That's $59 with 2 free checked bags.

 

http://www.southwest.com/html/promotions/nationwide-sale.html

[Epigonos]

If you travel to one city on a regular basis you quickly learn what the best possible fare is. I, for example, travel from Los Angeles to Puerto Vallarta twice a year. Two or three years ago the best nonstop fare I could get was around $375 it has now gone up to about $435. When I see a fare in that range I jump on it; I in fact already have my ticket for November – I know some of you will think that is crazy.

 

It is also interesting that fares frequently change during the week. I have found them higher at the beginning and the end of the week and best on Tuesday through Thursday. I use Kayak to get an idea of what is available but then usually buy my ticket directly from the airlines.

 

Now that American, Delta and United are the only three U.S. major international carriers remaining I try to use my United MileagePlus Explorer Visa Card for all my credit card purchases. I have become a dedicated mileage wh-re. The card comes with additional perks that I have found useful such as free upgrades, one free checked bag on domestic flights, and priority boarding. I’m sure that both American and Delta have similar cards available thus one can easily choose which airlines best meets ones needs.