When to buy air tickets

[WDW2002]

When is the best time to purchase air tickets for a December trip? Tickets have gone up dramaticly since they were first released in late January. Are they going to go down? Any insight, help?

 

[inkkognito]

We travel to Orlando almost monthly, and it is always a gamble! I keep an eye on the airfares via Orbitz, and I tend to purchase quite far in advance (we have tickets for all our trips this year up to Sept.). Normally I manage to snag a good deal, but for our May and July trips, I bought after waiting and seeing the fares do nothing but rise, and there was a sale literally the next day after I bought (I paid $215 and the sale was around $186). ! But that is the exception...usually I do pretty good ($166 for our March and April flights and $188 for Sept.).
I think a lot has to do with where you are flying from, too. We fly out of Chicago, so we have a choice of two airports, and ATA is a bargain airline that tends to keep the fares here competitive (that's who we got the $166 rate on...the $188 was American).
Good luck and keep watching!
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[dtuleya]

INK -

We're going flying from BWI to MCO in November. I've been waiting for the ATA flights to open up. I keep checking daily. I'd really like a direct flight and ATA and Southwest are the ONLY two that fly non-stop from BWI. Can you believe it???? Oh, well, not really interested in flying Southwest with their cattle call system. I've talked to several people who have seen people miss their flight after waiting in such long lines.

My question is, does ATA assign seats, and if so, do you pick them when you book online? How happy have you been with ATA? OOOppps, guess that's a couple questions. TIA!

 

[happydays]

Yes, ATA has assigned seats and you can book them online. The last time we used ATA, there were not 4 seats together available online, so after I booked it, I called their reservations line and they took care of it for us.

I have to say, that our experiences with ATA have been pleasant surprises. Twenty years ago, I was a flight attendant, and more recently, I fly so much for business that I am something like "super plutonium elite" status with the frequent flier programs of more than one airline - so I am a picky customer. I am incredibly skeptical of budget carriers, however ATA's fleet is very new and in very good shape. Additionally, I have found their ground and inflight personnel to be very competent and pleasant. Happy flying and have a great trip.

 

[inkkognito]

e had great luck with ATA. I've heard some horror stories about late flights etc., but we fly them to Orlando a LOT and have never had a problem. The only major delay we've ever encountered was due to a snowstorm in Chicago that shut down O'Hare. I was amazed that Midway was still open! We got in about two hours late, but of course that wasn't ATA's fault...it was one of those unavoidable weather things. They have a lot of nice new 757s, and they assign your seats (you can do it online or just give them a call...when we booked them via Orbitz, it automatically stuck us in the back, so I called ATA and discovered there were plenty of seats in the front & they changed us). They have been around for over 20 years, but much of that time was spend as a charter carrier. They tend to be quite slow with the luggage delivery in Orlando, although once we were pleasantly surprised...when we got to the baggage claim, it was there already! But that is definitely the exception to the rule. They don't serve meals, but now the other airlines don't either, so there really isn't much difference other than price! I would never do the Southwest cattle call, so we are fortunate to have ATA as an option here in Chicago. The only thing I like better on another carrier is the extra legroom on American, but I'll suffer for two hours for the cheaper rate!
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

We fly to Orlando 3 or 4 times a year from Washington. I watch the fares obsessively from BWI, IAD and DCA and purchase when they drop. I always buy when they fall under $150 (I paid $131 in January from IAD, and I just purchased a nonstop on Delta in June for $147).

It really helps to know your market and what a good fare is. If you are travelling at Christmas, I wouldn't wait past September to purchase, just to be on the safe side. If you are travelling earlier in December, I'd purchase by late October at the latest.

 

[WDW2002]

If it helps, I am traveling from N. California either SFO (san francisco) or OAK (oakland) in early December. I am not sure what a "fair fare" is but they were just under $300 at the end of January (this is about what I was hoping to pay for them), they are now closer to $450 and up.