When do you purchase your flights?

[DaveOKC]

I liked to book early, but that also gives them more time to change things, and they do. It's a trade-off.

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Agree - but IF you stay on top of things with the airlines - as should be done with any travel booking - all should be well. On average there's 3 itinerary changes over the 11 month out early booking date - but most are simple no impact changes. However - we do need to watch out for those aircraft equipment changes that may change seat configurations - otherwise IMO not much trouble.

 

And remember that if they do make a change on your flights and it does not work for you, you can ask them to put you on a different flight/time at NO CHARGE to you. I have done this several times and ended up with better flights than I originally booked! Works really well when you take your second choice flight due to big price difference and later you end up on it for your original lower price.

[Desert Cruizers]

When I booked our flights last Oct during the AA and US Air merger, I was notified to check AA for our booking. Upon checking our return flight home I saw that my husband & I were no longer seated together but 3 rows apart. Since there was no room in my row for my husband I went to the seating chart and moved my seating back to his row. Had I not gone back in to check, I would have found us apart. Not that it would have been a major hurdle since we would end up at the same house in the end.:D

[hapster85]

Agree - but IF you stay on top of things with the airlines - as should be done with any travel booking - all should be well. On average there's 3 itinerary changes over the 11 month out early booking date - but most are simple no impact changes. However - we do need to watch out for those aircraft equipment changes that may change seat configurations - otherwise IMO not much trouble.

 

I actually saw the changes myself, before the being notified by the airline, because I was monitoring via the app. ChoiceAir took over a week. The closer we get to departure, the more often I check for changes.

 

And remember that if they do make a change on your flights and it does not work for you, you can ask them to put you on a different flight/time at NO CHARGE to you. I have done this several times and ended up with better flights than I originally booked! Works really well when you take your second choice flight due to big price difference and later you end up on it for your original lower price.

 

I think they have to change it by more than an hour for that to be the case. At least that was American's policy when our July flight home was changed. They had actually given us an early departure time, but it would have meant cancelling a post-cruise excursion that we really wanted to take. Fortunately, there was a later flight that worked for us. Unfortunately, that resulted in a mad dash from terminal A to terminal E in Charlotte. Lol

[lelo14]

I've got the same question.

 

We are cruising the week of Texas'state spring break. Don't know who else will be on spring break that week.

Flying in the day before on March 11.

 

3 of us are going Houston to FLL and I plan to buy Southwest tickets for direct flights as soon as they go on sale (Aug 4)

 

But my in-laws are coming from Springfield MO and will probably fly American with a connection. Prices seem high right now and I've read that the best time is 6 weeks before. But given that it's spring break I'm afraid they will only go up.

[E&B]

I find the cheapest flights are on Southwest or JetBlue the day they release fares for whatever dates we're traveling.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[seafish]

Generally major airline Flight Changes occur over Saturday nights and Flight Inventory Dumps occur over Tuesday nights. So - it's a good idea for booked passengers to at least check for flight changes/new seat availability every Sunday. Yes agree - it usually takes about a few days to a week for airlines to alert booked passenger of changes by email. Only takes a minute to check & IMO well worth the effort.

Edited July 30, 2016 by seafish

[DaveOKC]

I think they have to change it by more than an hour for that to be the case. At least that was American's policy when our July flight home was changed. They had actually given us an early departure time, but it would have meant cancelling a post-cruise excursion that we really wanted to take. Fortunately, there was a later flight that worked for us. Unfortunately, that resulted in a mad dash from terminal A to terminal E in Charlotte. Lol

 

While they may have a minimum one hour time change for you to ask for them to change your reservation, I would still call and ask. There are reasons (such as a close connection, disabilities, other plans, etc.) that may come into play with even a minimal flight time change. One time I had them move my first flight was moved back by less than an hour, but since we had a close connection to start with, there was no way we could make it, so they gladly changed our flights at no charge.

[hapster85]

While they may have a minimum one hour time change for you to ask for them to change your reservation, I would still call and ask. There are reasons (such as a close connection, disabilities, other plans, etc.) that may come into play with even a minimal flight time change. One time I had them move my first flight was moved back by less than an hour, but since we had a close connection to start with, there was no way we could make it, so they gladly changed our flights at no charge.

I knew the close connection in Charlotte would be less than ideal. It was 35 minutes, and we used almost all of it. Won't try that again. It did get us home before 10 pm, where other options would have been much later, but was nerve-racking. Live and learn.

[Gallivanting Souls]

We have a somewhat weird trip coming up. Our son is graduating college on December 16 in Flagstaff, AZ, so we are flying to PHX on December 15th. I got an email today that SW is having a 3 day sale. I have been watching prices and today the price was down around $50. I went ahead and bought those tickets. We will be staying in AZ for 5 days and then flying to FLL for our cruise. I have been checking prices so I know that I will likely either fly United (first choice. get free 1st bag with cc) or SW. I found this app called Hopper (https://www.hopper.com/) . I put in my dates and where I am going. Hopper does not list SW, just like everyone else. What I like about Hopper is that it tells you when you should (possibly) buy. I had all my flights in and the only leg Hopper said to buy was this first leg. They listed American as the least expensive, but today SW was less than that. Between Hopper, Kayak, signing up for email alerts, and checking websites, all you can do is be ready to buy. Originally I was set to buy around final payment, that might still happen, but I'm going to be ready.

Kind of fun to (try and ) pounce on the cheapest deal!

[GalCruzer]

Last month we were able to book our R/T flights on SW for our October cruise at $180 pp. And nonstop both ways as well :D

[seafish]

Last month we were able to book our R/T flights on SW for our October cruise at $180 pp. And nonstop both ways as well

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Hey - great fares. Just checked SWA PIT/FLL R/T Non-Stop 2 senior rates February 2017 now at $715.95pp. Yes - it's an October & February comparison but a big regional price difference of $535.95pp? Booked Delta Comfort Plus with 2 side seating 1 stop (ATL) R/T at $446.50 - for us way better than SWA with their 737 3+3 equipment, no perks and higher prices.

[doone]

I need flights for March 16, 2018...when will Southwest open for this booking? I've heard some say that it's best to not buy on opening day...with Southwest you've found this to not be the case ? I need to buy 10 tickets :eek:

 

Southwest opened yesterday for flights thru April 24, 2017. Got a good deal on our flights for March. Best of luck.

[BigDaddyCVO]

We always fly Southwest and I purchase our flights the day the flight schedule opens up. I've found that most of the time I'll find one price drop up until our flight time and since Southwest allows you to change your flight without a charge I get back the difference either in flight credit, back to credit card or points returned to my account.

 

Ditto.

[shellyc]

Don't usually buy early, but we are cruising in the winter to Miami. We fly out of Newark NJ, and I purchased 2 tickets from EWR to MIA for 1/27/17 3 months ago and paid $197 RT on United. The same flight on United nonstop is now $450+ each.

I guess this time we did OK purchasing early.

The downside with booking early is that your flight times can change. Yesterday UA cancelled my UA return flight from Miami for 2/8/17 at 2:30PM. They put us on a 3:30PM flight back to EWR. I called UA and asked to be put on the 1:10PM flight. They said "you know your flights are going to change again after they reset the schedules after daylight savings time ends". I said, yes I realize that, but I still prefer earlier than later.

We did book early and got a good fare. The same combo is now over $400.

[DaveOKC]

The downside with booking early is that your flight times can change. Yesterday UA cancelled my UA return flight from Miami for 2/8/17 at 2:30PM. They put us on a 3:30PM flight back to EWR. I called UA and asked to be put on the 1:10PM flight. They said "you know your flights are going to change again after they reset the schedules after daylight savings time ends". I said, yes I realize that, but I still prefer earlier than later.

We did book early and got a good fare. The same combo is now over $400.

 

You were smart in not letting them talk you into staying on the 3:30 PM flight you were re-assigned to. Easier for them to not change the flight, but better for you to get the earlier flight.

[corkpopr]

southworst is my last choice. prefer Alaska on west coast, virgin America, or delta for any cross country runs. BA, KLM, AA, Delta for Europe. book air before booking the cruise.

[msmayor]

We always fly Southwest and I purchase our flights the day the flight schedule opens up. I've found that most of the time I'll find one price drop up until our flight time and since Southwest allows you to change your flight without a charge I get back the difference either in flight credit, back to credit card or points returned to my account.

 

Its my understanding that unless you purchase a higher-priced ticket on Southwest, you do NOT get anything back to a credit card when there are price drops.

 

Most people book the 'Wanna Get Away' fares which are the lowest cost, and when the price on those tickets drop you are only given a credit (or points back, if that's how the ticket was purchased). The credit is only available to use on a future flight you may take before one year from the original purchase date of the original ticket.

 

This can work very well for people who do multiple trips in a year and know that they will have an opportunity to use the credit. If you only take one or two flights a year though, the credit may not do you any good if the timing of your trips is such that the credit will expire before you can use it.

 

In my experience, Southwest is no longer the lowest cost carrier available in my area. Not only has their pricing increased (for me, higher than legacy carriers in my area) but their flight schedules are not the greatest anymore.

[hapster85]

In my experience, Southwest is no longer the lowest cost carrier available in my area. Not only has their pricing increased (for me, higher than legacy carriers in my area) but their flight schedules are not the greatest anymore.

 

We have friends who love Southwest, but every time I check, I'm less than impressed. Flight times either don't work as well, or at all, and the fares tend to be comparable to what I can find on other carriers. That's even with 2 free bags. I've never actually flown Southwest, so maybe I'd feel differently about them if I had.

[DaveOKC]

We have friends who love Southwest, but every time I check, I'm less than impressed. Flight times either don't work as well, or at all, and the fares tend to be comparable to what I can find on other carriers. That's even with 2 free bags. I've never actually flown Southwest, so maybe I'd feel differently about them if I had.

 

I have flown SW since the 70s and like it. You do have to fully understand their programs and policies however. The 2 free bags are great plus the seating approach works well if you understand it.

 

IMO, the main reason the prices are similar to other lines is that the other lines match SW's prices. For example, my friend was looking at booking Delta for next March. This week SW opened their schedule until late April and the next day Delta's prices dropped $100 roundtrip to match SW. Also, if you do not believe this, just review airfares on routes that SW does not service - the prices are much higher normally.

[Jeremiah1212]

I booked our February tickets on American award points the standard 330 days in advance (which I would never do if I were actually paying for the tickets) so I had the best options to redeem points.

 

We are still 6 months out and I just received my third itinerary change. Now I have had to totally rebook twice because the flights they have placed us on depart before 9am on the day we get off the ship in Miami. No dice. Now there are no award tickets left for the times that work for us, so both calls have resulted in 45+ minutes on the phone while the agent tries to get permission to open up award space and book us on flights that work.

 

So word to the wise, be patient and flexible if you're booking super early. Especially if you're on an award ticket! I'm tempted to book a refundable backup flight in case American completely fails me next time around. Fingers crossed...

[redwings]

April 3,2017 is spring break for Michigan schools. Air from Detroit to Tampa was expensive. $400. Plus we can't buy one ticket at a time as airline won't sell a ticket to anyone under 18. airfare almost as much as cruise. Buy hey...you only live once. Won't be any $$$ left for another life time.