Any suggestions for Airfare searches?

SuefromMA · Post by **SuefromMA** » Fri May 30, 2008 2:43 pm

Any suggestions for Airfare searches?

We will be leaving from Boston, MA on April 23, 2009 (a Thursday) - with a return on Sunday, May 3, 2009.

I know - it is early - but, I don't think that airfares will come down and will, instead, only go up.

I don't do the FF miles thing (I know - I should) - but, anyway, I just normally scope things out on expedia. Then just go to the carrier direct to book the flight.

Does anyone have any other suggestions re: search engines or ways to get the best flights at the best prices? We were hoping for a nonstop. But, I just spoke with AA & they only do nonstop on Saturdays in April.

Any suggestions would be welcome!

Thank you,
Sue

jayseadee · Post by **jayseadee** » Fri May 30, 2008 2:50 pm

I usually do the same - check it with Travelocity or Orbitz and then book with the airline.

If you do book this early, track it with Yapta; at least if the fare goes down, you may be elible for a voucher.

I was scheduled to take the AA non-stop in November, but just check this week and it is cancelled and am now going through San Juan.

good luck,

SuefromMA · Post by **SuefromMA** » Fri May 30, 2008 3:07 pm

Just to make things more complicated...... We are trying to co-ordinate our arrival on St. Thomas with a 3:15 departure to Virgin Gorda via Air Sunshine.

We were originally planning on just taking the 5:00 ferry over - but, decided that we would "spring" the extra $ for a quick hop over & arrive on Virgin Gorda at 3:30 via air compared to 7:00 via ferry. But, unless we can get on an early arrival flight into St. Thomas or the preferred non-stop, I am a little trepid about being able to book the leg from St. Thomas to Virgin Gorda.

Oh, well. Not the end of the world. It will all work out. Just that it is so hard to "plan" when you can never be sure, even when you book a flight, whether or not the departure & arrival times will change even BEFORE you take off.

Gromit · Post by **Gromit** » Fri May 30, 2008 3:29 pm

Well kids-- I just booked my tix two days ago originally going to book an AA flight out of Dulles thru SJU and on to STT arriving around 3pm.

Well, at the last second I decided against it and decided to go ahead and pay a few bucks more to go with Delta thru Atlanta with a shorter layover and getting me to STT an hour ahead of AA's earliest flight.

Well, guess what? That AA flight I was going to book is GONE. I am pickier about schedules than price and I would have been crazy PO'd if I had booked that flight on AA cause now we'd have a 4 hour layover in MIA and wouldn't get to STT until 4:15!!

So glad I went with my gut on this one...

Anyone who booked with AA thru SJU might want to check their flights -- there may be more changes as they trim their schedule thru SJU.

Don't get me wrong, I truly HATE SJU and prefer MIA, but not if I have a 4 hour layover! And NOT AFTER I booked a flight with a preferred schedule.

RickG · Post by **RickG** » Fri May 30, 2008 3:33 pm

I like to setup fare alerts on kayak.com. Anything under $400 rt is a buy for me. For winter, anything under $600 direct rt is a buy as well. At least you are arriving after Easter. This year, Easter Week was freakin' packed.

Cheers, RickG

flip-flop · Post by **flip-flop** » Fri May 30, 2008 3:38 pm

I like Kayak! I've gotten some really good deals with them and they send you off to book directly with the airline which I prefer.

Gromit · Post by **Gromit** » Fri May 30, 2008 3:40 pm

Sorry, got off on a rant before.. to answer your question:

I search expedia,kayak, American Express, orbitz, and travelocity to get the lay of the land. Then I go direct to the airlines that cover my routes and search them separately.

Once I get an idea of schedules I set up notifications where possible and/or tag it with YAPTA. I also check the sites regularly and at odd hours. Sometimes late at night or early in the AM you can get some steals. Just depends on the airline.

My general rule for pricing: anything under $500 is OK; Under $400 is Good; Under $300 -- do not pass go, do not hesitate for 2 seconds.. buy... buy...buy!!

Of course with fuel prices the way they are we may be seeing higher prices for some time so the aforementioned pricing guidelines may have to shift!

jmq · Post by **jmq** » Fri May 30, 2008 4:07 pm

Kayak is very good. Farecast now does STT. Dont even use the travelocity alerts anymore - seems like all of the discount dates on the calendar pop-up ALWAYS x out when you click on em. Stop wasting my time.

When checking back in with the airline, clear your cookies first under Tools/Internet Options in MS explorer. If you dont some are supposed to have sophisticated enuff systems that can tell if you looked at a particular flight before and may not give you the lowest price.

We also just had the experience with AA of needing 3 tickets but having them come up a higher price for 3 vs 2 tix. So got the laptop and desktop going at same time, simultaneously booked 2 @ $376 and one @ $419 and was able to choose seats basically together with 2 against window, 3rd across aisle in same row. Go figure.

Gromit · Post by **Gromit** » Fri May 30, 2008 4:09 pm

JMQ-- I've often wondered about that myself. I always search for just 1 ticket, never two or that very reason.

Berlingirl · Post by **Berlingirl** » Fri May 30, 2008 4:30 pm

JMQ...it was because they only had two of the cheaper seats in inventory, they didn't have three. You can buy 2 cheap, 1 more expensive seperately or three more expensive all together. Just how their inventory control works.

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