Does anyone have any tips on how to get the best prices on airfare? When is the best time to buy and what websites do you use for the best results? I am trying to plan a trip to San Francisco for the end of July and airfare is really high for me right now. For the more seasoned travelers, do you think it will go down before then or should I grab it now? Additionally, where should I be looking to try to find cheaper flights? I've tried kayak and Orbitz- is anything better out there? I'm also interested in general tips since I feel like I have these same questions each time I travel and never get any clarity. Thanks!
You should book early. I know this is hard to do, but I have found if you book earlier in the period for your travel you can usually get your flight for cheaper. However, you may have already missed this boat because of how short of a distance you have between now and then.
Unfortunately booking early is never an option for me with my job. I have found actually that you can get some true steals if you wait until around 3 weeks before to book, and (if the flights are not sold out) the very best deals you can get come at about a week before, but that is very risky. Thanks for the advice anyway!
I found the same thing to be true, that the best deals are found two or three weeks before. Also I found that you'll get cheaper rates if you're not picky about what airport you fly into. On a recent trip to san diego, I found that the cheapest flights were from newark to palm springs with a stopover in los angeles. So rather than trying to book a flight from jfk directly to san diego, I took a train to Newark and had somebody come and get me from los angeles. It came out close to $100 cheaper that way.
I have recently discovered the same to be true, although I was beginning to wonder if this was only a seasonal thing? I don't recall seeing the same effect in flights during the rest of the year as compared to this summer. The week before does have the best deals, but it is also highly risky chance to take you aren't able to get a flight for the day and time you need. But if you're just planning a general out of town meeting with friends I preferred taking my chances and watching closely. The other thing is I typically stick to AirTran or Southwest, they don't tend to have very many flights throughout the US and internationally compared to many of the others. However their prices tend to be a lot lower in comparison.
I sometimes book 2 days before flying so the whole "book early" thing is totally not even true. I think it was an industry rumor to fill seats. I always wait till the last minute to book. Never buy a ticket on the weekend. They jack the prices way up. The best nights to buy are Tues, Wed or Thurs when companies are ready to fill seats. You should try expedia, hotwire and travelocity too.
I've been noticing really low prices on AirTran lately- I actually got a frequent flyer account with them for this very reason. Frontier also sometimes has some steals... it does pay to watch closely Thanks!
My biggest suggestion would be to try several sites. The other day I was about to buy a flight for $365 on travelocity and before I bought it I checked expedia nad it was only $342!
No problem! Most definitely! I started the same frequent flyer account too, recently since they are merging with Southwest it may be in your interest to also join the Southwest program. I have yet to compare the two, perhaps here would be a good place to ask about that. But just passing the word along!
Try looking on Skyscanner. Companies like Orbitz and Kayak are partnered with certain airlines so they will give preference to those. Skyscanner is an independent company so they will show you the rates without preference to any airline. I usually check there because they show some of the lowest rates I've seen.