Playing Chicken with Air Fare

alw1977 · Post by **alw1977** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 9:40 am

We leave in 25 days. I am currently playing a nasty game of chicken with our airfare. We are going to be on-island from a Friday-Wednesday, and fares from Atlanta are over $700! The least expensive they've been since we booked our dates is $675. Absurd, as I've never paid more than $425 ticket prior to this year - direct or not.

Bing's travel predictor says to hold steady, but I'm going to have a tough time waiting past this Thursday. I'll have to pull the trigger this week, but c'mon... are most markets experiencing a sharp increase in prices to STT?

KTinTX · Post by **KTinTX** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 9:58 am

I can only speak for Houston, but yes, ours was the highest of 4 trips over past five years.

philbetm · Post by **philbetm** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 10:09 am

Yes....We had to pay double the $$$ for flights this year on USAir than last year....flying out of same airport ( CLT ) almost exact same dates as well ! It is insane and we never could figure out a logical explanation for it !

alw1977 · Post by **alw1977** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 10:30 am

It's rather puzzling, especially since flight capacity from ATL hasn't decreased. Also, right around our dates it is less expensive. Oh well - just a couple of less expensive dinners out I suppose! I'm still going to hold tight and see what happens in the next couple of days - I'll be checking often for sure!

sherryt · Post by **sherryt** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 11:10 am

You might find a better fare if you can leave on Thursday.

ccinhbg · Post by **ccinhbg** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 12:35 pm

I played chicken with the fares out of central PA and lost. The fares kept going up. Finally bought and have check a few time sinces and the prices are the same. Fare was about $150 higher than normal.

Teresa_Rae · Post by **Teresa_Rae** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 1:33 pm

Wow, I wouldn't be able to sleep without having secured plane tickets this close to a trip

PA Girl · Post by **PA Girl** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 1:41 pm

Teresa_Rae wrote:Wow, I wouldn't be able to sleep without having secured plane tickets this close to a trip

Me neither! When we tried to do a trip last summer, I was running into sold out flights on weekdays (not weekends) in July. I live in PA and don't have the options that are probably available out of ATL.

We booked for our Jan 2014 trip last Friday. The price was tolerable (comparable to the past four trips) and with five people, we decided just to get it out of the way.

The2ofus · Post by **The2ofus** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 1:55 pm

PA Girl wrote:
Teresa_Rae wrote:Wow, I wouldn't be able to sleep without having secured plane tickets this close to a trip
Me neither! When we tried to do a trip last summer, I was running into sold out flights on weekdays (not weekends) in July. I live in PA and don't have the options that are probably available out of ATL.

We booked for our Jan 2014 trip last Friday. The price was tolerable (comparable to the past four trips) and with five people, we decided just to get it out of the way.

True that! The way they are cutting capacity I'd be scared to play chicken. They already canceled our upcoming flight and put us on a different one.
Oh, and it looks like you'll be there when we are .....I'll be the older (old?) bald guy with either a Harley T or a Pink Floyd T on. Say hi if you see me LOL. I'll definately be waving at all the cams I see ha ha!

alw1977 · Post by **alw1977** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 2:14 pm

Eh, the worst that happens is we pay more. This is the longest I've waited though. I probably won't wait past tomorrow as Tuesdays are generally the best day to buy - if it doesn't drop at all tomorrow, it's probably not going to.

ATL has two daily direct and several connecting flights through CLT, MIA and FLL.

michigan girls · Post by **michigan girls** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 4:10 pm

Our April trip this year had airfare up about $50 from the previous year. Now our August airfare was up another $125 from that. On the plus side though, we usually fly out of Detroit to save money, but this time the fare from Grand Rapids was only about $20 more, so at least we get to fly out from the airport that's only 4 miles from my house. Usually the price difference is $200ish.

Also flying Delta this time instead of AA, and getting there a couple hours earlier, so that's a bonus as well.

I would be a nervous wreck waiting on airfare that long, you're braver than I am!

philbetm · Post by **philbetm** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 4:55 pm

Last year in June I paid $676 for my ticket out of CLT on USAir....this year that same flight # and times with them cost me $1100 + .... when it was listed at $800+ a few months before, I thought well I'll wait it will go down...didn't happen!

Problem was I had to take THAT flight...I didn't have a choice on that. So I paid out the wahzoo !!!

Sherry in SC

sherban · Post by **sherban** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 5:21 pm

If airfare is important you have to plan months in advance, if not then no big deal!

When we bring our kids I pay close attention to airfare because it is 4 tickets....

This year we bought on January 26th and paid $343 out of ATL through MIA (6/12-6/19)...I clicked BUY pretty quickly!

Priorities...

JJShaw · Post by **JJShaw** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 7:27 pm

I would be a nervous wreck...and then some...I had no fingers left...much less nails...lol
We always book air first, but our schedules for work are fairly flexible...good luck to you..I would also chk Wednesday in the AM to see if it has dropped ..Did you check Spirit? they are having a 24 OFF sale thru tonight.

Lovermont · Post by **Lovermont** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 8:42 pm

I bought our southbound ticket for our December trip months ago for $188, but decided to hold of on the return portion. I still haven't purchased the second half of the trip yet, and the prices are not moving in my favor. But, what the heck, as it stands now, "we've got two tickets to Paradise!"

usvi-on-line