Buying airplane tickets
 

Not really sure where to post this but...

I'm planning a trip from to visit my buddy in the Virgin Islands from Bellingham, WA for spring break (about 3/21-3/29). I was looking at the cost of one round-trip ticket and I nearly fell over. I think this will be a great experience, but I'm a poor college guy. I can hardly conceive paying $1000 just for the ticket, not counting all the money I'll spend on living expenses and she-males :paranoid: .

Do the prices get cheaper as the departure date nears and the airlines need to fill the plane, or will prices go even higher?

Thanks

Prices go even higher as it gets closer to the date. You are also trying to travel during Spring Break time. You also may find that you're just locked out of certain days since SB destinations can book quickly and sell out.While college students normally don't have funds, they seem to have funds to go to spring break destinations.

Try to be flexible with your dates.

Everyone wants to leave on Fridays and come back on Sundays. Everyone wants to leave either in the morning or at the end of the day. Try to be flexible to leave when others don't want to be travelling. This is why red-eye flights are cheaper since most people don't want to leave at midnight and arrive on the East Coast at 8AM.

Try mixing and matching your flight paths. See if you can get a good deal to anywhere on the East Coast, and then see if you can't find a reasonable connection.

From WA, you're already at a disadvantage because you have to get to the East Coast, that alone can add $300 to your airfare right off the bat.

Try www.kayak.com, www.farecast.com and www.cheaptickets.com.

Prices actually can go cheaper as the date nears. But only if the airline is having trouble filling the seats. Not likely during spring break on a flight to the USVI.

Buying earlier would have been best. If your a student with an e-mail address that ends in "edu" try http://www.studentuniverse.com/new/. My daughters nabbed some great deals through them. Keep in mind they don't always have the lowest fare avail. So check out the prices of the sites listed above as well.

Bottom line is research really pays off when buying airfare. I've got cross country R/T seats of under $200 on a regular basis. Often the person next me will complain that they couldn't believe this flight was over $1000.

Finally, often changing your departure airport can say you big. I used to live near Portland, Or (PDX) and I always checked Seattle (SEA) prices. Other times PDX beat SEA by a wide margin. You can, as someone mentioned above, try using someone like Southwest to get to a cheaper departure point to the VI. Also check Jet Blue (use their site for this) they regularly have 199 R/T fare sales to New York from PDX. Once you get to NY a flight to the VI is likely going to be less. The flexibility you have the better off you're going to be, one day either way can often save you several hundred bucks.

Best of luck with the she males.

Leaving on a Wednesday morning and coming and come back on a Tuesday afternoon will be the cheapest way to get to Florida or the Caribbean, in my experience.

Try Spirit Airlines too. They have limited flights but they are cheap.

www.kayak.com is a swell way to keep an eye on prices.....I got good deals on our seattle to belize tickets!........xoxoxoo

Supply and demand. Mix in other costs such as fuel, competiton, etc., and you have the basis for fares. There is no pattern any more to booking later or not.

The best thing to do is check all sorts of alternatives. For example, can you fly to one island and catch a short boat ride to your final destination?

Here's an example: I needed to fly one time from South Florida to San Fran. Everything was over $1,000 from Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm. In the end I booked a round trip originating in Miami on one airline and another originating in San Fran on a different airline. Both were direct/non-stop flights. I didn't care about the returns because I wasn't going to use them. The total was $525.

So a few other tips:

- drive to another airport
- fly to another airport that is really cheap and then book another flight out of there
- take a train to another airport that is less expensive
- fly really late or really early; both will make you lose a day on either end of your trip so you have to decide the value of your time
- check rates daily because they can change
- leave before the big rush and come back half way through, or visa-versa. That gets you there for part of the time but you're not traveling when it's expensive. For example, fly someplace on Christmas day or Thanksgiving day rather that 2-3 days before. You'll get a much better deal because everyone already wants to be there.

You can save a lot of money if yo work all the angles but you'll pay through the nose when you want something right when everyone else wants it. Simple economics 101 - supply & demand! Good luck and have fun because I know you'll figure a way!!

No shame in going to a travel agent and asking for their best prices. If you're a AAA member they'll do it for free. Just be careful you're not flying standby and you have enough time to make any connecting flights - ALWAYS assume your flight will be delayed.

Its all about Location and dates... I just booked a ticket today Roundtrip from Louisville to Phoenix, and the total for the ticket was $180 with taxes, traveling for 5 days in early May 2008. If I had bought my tickets for the following week, or even for leaving on Friday, I would have paid upwards of $250-300.

AAA may work but travel agents don't make anything any more so if anything their prices will include a service charge. The most inexpensive way to actually purchase is through the airline site. Travel agents onoy make money these days on big packages including hotel, rental cars, boat trips - that sort of thing..

Um, AAA doesn't get a discount on flights anymore. They suggest you do your own shopping around and book the flights yourself, then they'll take the itinerary and joint it up with the rest of your travel reservations through them. I think they actually would have charged to make our reservations for us.

(This is when I was booking a cruise I never went on back in May or June.)