What would a Forumite do? Advice needed!

[Marcia (Mrs. Pete)]

Marcia you may be right on the airfares. I was reading something the other day about the way the airlines have hedged for fuel for the remainder of the year. There is no futures market for "jet fuel", so they do what I call "dirty hedges" with a commodity that is normally closely correlated in price, like diesel fuel or crude oil. Leaving out a lot details here, but it seems that the price of jet fuel is rising, while the value of their hedges deteriorates. So not only will they be paying more for the actual fuel they need, they will also have to be covering for losses on their hedges. A double whammy. I hope it's not as bad as what I was reading. And things do have a way of changing.

I read something quite similar, and it's evidencing itself already. We've been traveling a ton the last couple of years and hope to continue to do so. I cannot believe the differences in prices I'm seeing now, vs. just a year ago. My benchmark is changing. Used to be "if it's around $350 p/p r/t - book it." Now, if I find something close to $450 p/p r/t, I feel like I have to jump on it. Bleuch.

[Steve S]

We've always gone airfare (or frequent flier) first. A potential hang up is best fares are mid-week these days and we have bumped up against Saturday to Saturday rentals in the past, but this does not seem to be an issue of late...

[liamsaunt]

Book it! You will be fine, there are so many houses to choose from. House is usually the last thing we book, and we have always found something good, usually at a discount.

[PA Girl]

Marcia you may be right on the airfares. I was reading something the other day about the way the airlines have hedged for fuel for the remainder of the year. There is no futures market for "jet fuel", so they do what I call "dirty hedges" with a commodity that is normally closely correlated in price, like diesel fuel or crude oil. Leaving out a lot details here, but it seems that the price of jet fuel is rising, while the value of their hedges deteriorates. So not only will they be paying more for the actual fuel they need, they will also have to be covering for losses on their hedges. A double whammy. I hope it's not as bad as what I was reading. And things do have a way of changing.

I read something quite similar, and it's evidencing itself already. We've been traveling a ton the last couple of years and hope to continue to do so. I cannot believe the differences in prices I'm seeing now, vs. just a year ago. My benchmark is changing. Used to be "if it's around $350 p/p r/t - book it." Now, if I find something close to $450 p/p r/t, I feel like I have to jump on it. Bleuch.

I agree. For the past two and one upcoming trip, we paid 40-60% more than our last STJ trip in Feb 2010.

[Mary L]

Well, I hope your coming in August for your Birthday and Megan's Wedding.

[FinsUp]

X- I say shake it up a little...(mind you this is coming from someone who always knows which week she's travelling and where she's staying) have fun with it and I"ll be anxious to hear how you make out

[Kentuckygirl]

We have always booked our airfare first. Flights are usually so expensive from here, so if we see a decent price for the flights (usually midweek), we go ahead and book them, then decide on the villa. I don't always get my first choice on the villa, but can always find one that we like, with location and views being most important.

[Lulu76]

One time, I had a villa owner tell me: Go get the plane ticket you want and then pick your villa based on what fits into your timeframe with your airfare. It seemed backwards to me, but at the same time if you're not picky about where you stay (which I'm really not) then it makes sense.

Maybe I'll try it someday, but I tend to be such a control freak, even if I don't care where I stay!