Advice on airfare...

BojiGirl · Post by **BojiGirl** » Wed Feb 03, 2010 2:48 pm

Anyone have insights to the airline industry? We are wanting to visit St John in July; airfares are high!!

I would guess they would go down as it is technically "hurricane season". Am I wrong in assuming this? We are coming from landlocked Omaha..that's part of the problem too. Trying to be patient.....when are fares likely to go on "sale"? thanks....we really want to be in St John! Kim
Oh and we are restricted to July due to work schedules.

17th Hole · Post by **17th Hole** » Wed Feb 03, 2010 3:23 pm

I was noticing that as well. We're looking to fly at the end of June and unless you fly at some ridiculous times, the fare is really high! I found a fare out of Ohio for around $300 but it was a 12 hour trip (leave at 8AM and arrive at 8PM)! I'm checking all the airports within 100 miles and was able to find a Spirit hub in Detroit. Fares out of DTW were running about $325 and decent flight times. I'm worried the flights will fill up though so I need to pull the trigger soon.

Have you tried Yapta? It's a great online fare tracking service that will get you a refund if the fares drop. Good luck!

DELETED · Post by **DELETED** » Wed Feb 03, 2010 3:37 pm

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LandLockedBeachLover · Wed Feb 03, 2010 3:43 pm

Agree with the Wed-Wed fares. Just booked mine for August through AA at $500/pp, which isn't bad for St. Louis (also land-locked

)

My other suggestion is to take advantage of the credit cards offered by American or others that will give you 30K points with your first purchase. It's nearly enough to get a free ticket to STT. Also join American's dining program where you get points by eating at participating restaurants (there are quite a few). You'll get to a free ticket or two in no time! Take it from me, the "Points Whore"

!

BojiGirl · Post by **BojiGirl** » Wed Feb 03, 2010 3:50 pm

Thanks for the quick responses! Unfortunately we are pretty much committed to flying Sat-Sat or Sun-Sun due to the work schedules of two of us (out of 4). We are just hanging in there and if something drops below $600 we will have to take it and hope our villa of choice is available. Why is so hard to get to St John vs Jamaica or Costa Rica? We can fly to those places with one stop and be there early afternoon. Doesn't seem right. I am glad I found this board....very valuable information!!

Rachelle & Joe · Post by **Rachelle & Joe** » Wed Feb 03, 2010 3:54 pm

Oh yes, we are still searching & holding out for our may departure from cleve. & they are still high, leaving on a wed. thinking the fare would b lower, but no luck yet... also trying to get there at a decent hour !

tipsy · Post by **tipsy** » Wed Feb 03, 2010 4:14 pm

did you check to see what the airlines policy was if the fares drop? Some of them, give you a refund for the diff. in form of credit towards another flight etc.

We waited to book for same reasons,was 325.00 r/t pp, month later jumped to 447.00. ok taking it and hope it goes down again. Nope,kept rising till it was almost 800.00 pp !! Ended up going down a bit but now its booked solid, no seats left going down and very few coming back. So am glad we bit the bullet and went with the 447.00 price but sure could kick our butts for not doing it ASAP.

It's a real tough call to make,think lots of people agonize over this more than anything else for this trip. Good luck in what ever you decide.

tipsy · Post by **tipsy** » Wed Feb 03, 2010 4:16 pm

btw, have heard that AA is looking to let go alot of pilots this year, so means less flights. Keep that in mind when booking/waiting to book. Friend of ours works for them at JFK.

jmq · Post by **jmq** » Wed Feb 03, 2010 4:17 pm

If you dont catch something WAY in advance, we have sometimes have had better luck getting better AF closer to around 110-80 days out from date of travel, but that could be more of a supply/demand driven equation that might not apply so much to Omaha.

In addition to traveling mid-week (not an option for you) you can also sometimes BOOK a better price on a Tues/Weds - thats when some airlines re-adjust/update the pricing on their websites. If you are sitting at your computer on or near the weekend looking at leisure destination prices, prices can be higher than those you view midweek during off hours.

Also clear your cookies between specific fare/flight inquiries as some airline sites will know if you've been there before and thats another reason the price for a specific flight you just looked at an hour ago is now X dollars higher.

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