Plane tickets question?

Question

I was shopping around yesterday for tickets to fly to europe this christmas from texas. Yesterday the prices were 600-670 dollars. BUT now when I checked its like 900-1200????????!?!?! what is this? I am so pissed I shouldve bought it yesterday...but is there a way that it will come down again? I remember last year (October) tickets were also 600-700 dollars

Answer 1

While it's possible that fares will come back down, it's far from likely.  Airlines have been cutting excess capacity to reduce costs and many of the less expensive airfares are a casualty of that.

You can always buy now and have your ticket re-fared if the price drops, but the longer you wait (especially at a peak period such as Christmas) the more risk you run that the prices will continue up instead of down.

Good luck!

Answer 2

The fares did not necessarily go up. Airlines limit the number of discount seats per flight. Once the $600 seats sell out, you have to buy the next most expensive seat. Once those sell out, you have to buy the next most expensive seat. Needless to say, booking early increases the chance of getting those cheaper seats.

Could it come down again? Maybe. Trying to predict the level of airfares in the future is like trying to predict the level of the stock market - no one can do it. If demand for flights drops off, the airline may increase the number of cheap seats to stimulate demand. However, flights to popular destinations commonly sell out for Christmas, so I wouldn't bet the house on it.

Try some alternate dates if you have any flexibility. For Europe, traveling midweek may be cheaper than weekends. Also, try a shopping website like kayak.com. Kayak searches many different websites and combines the results. There is no guarantee that they will find the cheapest flight, but they can save a lot of time exploring options.

You will see some people on this website post answers that fares are cheaper "just after midnight" or "if you buy them on Tuesday or Wednesday." Not true. Those are just urban myths perpetuated by websites like this. (Traveling on certain days of the week can lower your airfare, not buying them on certain days of the week.)  I have worked in the travel industry and airlines adjust fares constantly based on supply and demand. They don't wait for certain times of day or certain days of the week. I've seen fares for one flight change multiple times in a few hours.

Answer 3

Keep checking. Sometimes prices go down again. However, you answered your own question. You should have bought the tickets when they were cheap, of course, but who knew?

Since you want to fly at Christmas, a very popular time for travel, it's unlikely that you'll get much of a deal. They say the best time to check prices is around midnight of any day. That's the time ticket sellers are trying to clear things for the next business day.

Select a price limit (600-750, perhaps) and then keep searching. Sometimes it helps if you can be flexible about the time you fly.

LOL