I have always been a planner and buy my airline tickets 3-6 months in advance of my travel to Paris. But, I have a trip coming up in July to Paris and one in September and due to many factors I may only be able to purchase my tickets for both trips one month in advance.
I know it is luck of the draw with airline tickets, but I am just curious how many of you prefer to buy far in advance versus how many like to purchase last minute (inside 4-6 weeks of travel).
Which do you prefer and which way have you had more luck ??
|||
It depends on the season.
Last minute works great late January-March or very late September-November. By last minute, I do not mean inside 4-6 weeks travel. I mean within less than 14 days of travel, sometimes within 3 days.
July is peak season. The options are hideous. 4-6 Months in advance is best. With just one month in advance, prepare for the worst possible prices.
|||
I%26#39;ve bought really cheap tickets for September less than 3 weeks out, directly from nwa.com. In June, inside 30 days, I%26#39;d call a consolidator. I used to love Euram. Are they still around? Also, in the summer, since you%26#39;re in Atlanta, check the travel section of the AJC in the travel ads and see if there are any charters going to Paris with cheap $149 seats. The charter I used to work for had $99 each way fares from DTW-FRA and the booker used to put ads in the Detroit papers. They%26#39;re stand-by, but they%26#39;re usually there. Just expect a seat pitch of about 25%26quot; and really awful food. I definitely wouldn%26#39;t expect anything in June to suddenly pop up on any commercial carrier. Other possibilities are to check the early morning flights on BA out of NYC to Heathrow that arrive at 2000h. They%26#39;re usually pretty inexpensive (today is $920 midweek in June)....then you just have to get a cheap flight to NYC and the train to Paris. Sounds wacked....but sometimes its way cheaper.....(the cheapest fare on travelocity.com ATL-CDG same dates is $1311 on Continental and the average is $1544)....but when you get inside the 30-day mark, BA%26#39;s fare will still be the same. The other thing you can do inside the 30-day mark is find out what the lowest fare is (in Apollo it%26#39;s a $D or a $DD, but I don%26#39;t know what CRS you use), and then, regardless of whether the fare is available, use that number to bid on Priceline, as it seems to be the basis by which they approve or deny a bid. (That%26#39;s just a guess....I have no scientific data to support it other than I%26#39;ve had bids accepted twice using the theory). I have other ideas, but I won%26#39;t bore everyone with all of them....email me if you get stuck coming up with stuff.
|||
There is no rhyme or reason to airline ticket prices.
Buy when you think they are cheap - dont be surprised if they get cheaper.
This topic has been debated ad nauseum many times before in here - there is a serach fucntion so you can look for it before you post
|||
arrowcarpet, you offer some interesting suggestions regarding charters. I was not aware of the DTW charter, so I will look into it. Of course I have looked at consolidators but they are just as expensive as using mobissimo.com for searching airfare. I am amazed at summer rates. Of course I have not ever gone to Paris mid summer before, and so it is a rude awakening.
Wizard, I have been on this forum a while and I am aware and utilize the %26quot;search%26quot; feature constantly. However, it is not perfect when not searching a direct one or two word subject and I am not always the most patient. Beside, I know this is an objectional subject and I wanted opinions on summer vs. fall purchases. Sorry I annoy you.
What annoys me is airfare in general. I is impossible to understood it even after 15 years working in the business. It seems sometimes the more I understand, the less I understand.
|||
%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;Buy when you think they are cheap - dont be surprised if they get cheaper.%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;
True Wiz; but at the same time - just when you think prices have peaked, they get more expensive.
|||
Yeah, try 1300-1500 minimum for summer travel per ticket from ATL.....could it get much worse ??? (I know the answer) Ouch !!
|||
-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-
This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.
To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html
We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.
Removed on: 10:21 am, September 01, 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment