Thread: Booking airline tickets

The travel bug hasn't bit me in several years, so I'm not privy to the way the air lines operate.

1) For the ones that know, if I book a flight 8 months in advance for an international flight, can/do/will the airline increase the fare after I've already booked?

2) Is it cheaper to book that far in advance? Any tips?

Thanks in advance for your answer, comments or advice.

Originally Posted by Phuketrichard

i book online all the time, most of the time 2 months in advance, NO way would i book more than that, things change.

Air asia often runs sales and if u book way in advance u can get some great deals IF ur really sure ur going to travel than

The price u pay when you book is the price u pay

I use http://www.kayak.com and Matrix - ITA Software plus look at the airlines own site

Other than situations change, why wouldn't you book that far in advance?

When new routes open up fares can be very cheap to fill seats. Airasia are opening new routes often.

It may be cheaper to book long in advance if you think your currency may be on the slide eg AUD at the moment.

Prices are high during holidays, Chinese New year at the end of this month.
Certain days of the week can be cheaper. If you are flexible you can find cheap fares even a few days in advance. Tigerair does this often out of Singapore.

Check out Skyscanner, Kayak, & Fare Compare. on FC, I know you can punch in a price and they'll e-mail you when it's available. They have monthly maps with the lowest price on each day too. Sometimes the best deal is on Orbitz or Expedia using multiple carriers. They throw big 'flight & hotel' package discounts out there occasionally too. IIWY, I'd start reading this thread on Flyertalk - Mileage Run Deals - FlyerTalk Forums You might snag a crazy fare. I got a $450 SFO-BKK-YGN (RT) in 1st on UA last year & they honored it !

Rome to Rio, a new Australian website does complete planning for air as well as all the connections in between such as boat,train, and bus.
You may wish to give it a go:
Rome2rio: discover how to get anywhere

Originally Posted by wackyjacky

Check out Skyscanner, Kayak, & Fare Compare. on FC, I know you can punch in a price and they'll e-mail you when it's available. They have monthly maps with the lowest price on each day too. Sometimes the best deal is on Orbitz or Expedia using multiple carriers. They throw big 'flight & hotel' package discounts out there occasionally too. IIWY, I'd start reading this thread on Flyertalk - Mileage Run Deals - FlyerTalk Forums You might snag a crazy fare. I got a $450 SFO-BKK-YGN (RT) in 1st on UA last year & they honored it !

Kayak had one from BKK to Pensacola, Fl for $820.00 usd. I'm not sure I could find one any cheaper hence the reason I was considering the 8 month in advance. I've always heard it's cheaper the earlier one books.
I've also heard from ones that did that, the fuel prices got higher and so did the ticket price when they went to buy the ticket.

Its been my experience that booking direct with the airline is best. Check the the sites for best deals offered on the route you want, then book direct.
Any problems the airline will help but if booked through an agent they just refer you back to that agent.

Originally Posted by ralphlsasser

Originally Posted by Phuketrichard

i book online all the time, most of the time 2 months in advance, NO way would i book more than that, things change.

Air asia often runs sales and if u book way in advance u can get some great deals IF ur really sure ur going to travel than

The price u pay when you book is the price u pay

I use http://www.kayak.com and Matrix - ITA Software plus look at the airlines own site

Other than situations change, why wouldn't you book that far in advance?

Exactly, I really have no idea what i am doing next week , much less months in advance

Don't confuse booking in advance and payment. If you do book 8 months in advance, be aware that the fuel & other surcharges may increase but once you have paid, the airlines will honour that fare

Regardless, I would like to thank Phuketrichard for reminding me about Kayak. I checked right after the post and it was like all other fares to SFO in July the height of summer too high. This morning Asiana airlines popped up. I checked and if I book in 3 days I can get a 1300 dollar reductions in anything I have been able to find. To get the full reduction I booked a Ford Focus that I need anyway for the 27 day stay. So air + car came in about 40,000 baht cheaper than anything I have found that fits a family in 3 months of looking.

Four people travelling. We are going home to look at universities for my kids, plus have a little fun.

Originally Posted by aging one

Regardless, I would like to thank Phuketrichard for reminding me about Kayak. I checked right after the post and it was like all other fares to SFO in July the height of summer too high. This morning Asiana airlines popped up. I checked and if I book in 3 days I can get a 1300 dollar reductions in anything I have been able to find. To get the full reduction I booked a Ford Focus that I need anyway for the 27 day stay. So air + car came in about 40,000 baht cheaper than anything I have found that fits a family in 3 months of looking.

Four people travelling. We are going home to look at universities for my kids, plus have a little fun.

hahhahaa, MY daughter is at Sonoma state!! Make sure u head to University of Santa Cruz, great school but hard to get in, Davis is another good one up north. She loves it at SSU, in her second year now. Word of advice, as soon as u land have ur kids go get a ca id from DMV. Ca is great casue they can establish residency while they are attending class. Her first year was expensive but now, since she is a ca resident with her grants tuition is free. Only problem is hard for the students to get classes they want cause of all the cuts in teachers in Ca.

for car rentlals i always use Fox car rentals at SFO, went in July 2012 and had to pay $340 for 10 days, went last nov and 10 days was ONLY $148!!!

IN Seoul airport there is a place ( 2nd floor) u can rest for like 4 hours and they offer a buffet and wifi and tv's its like $14/person with ur boarding pass, also right across u can take FREE showers ( towels provided)

Thanks Richard, we will be looking at most of the schools in the UC system. Davis, Santa Cruz, Berkeley, Santa Barbara, USC, UCLA, San Diego, Stanford, and St. Marys as well. U of Penn for the Ivy league schools.

Big trip coming up.

Really big thanks for the ID and residency tip. I was planning on buying a place, but that seems to be covered now.

Originally Posted by Phuketrichard

DON"T forget to file ur FAFSA the jan BEFORE they are due to start school.

What is FAFSA, and they have the GPA and scored 2080 and 2100 their first try on the SAT. They will take it 2 more times. They are determined, in fact they are at an SAT prep class at the Princeton Review. Every Saturday and Sunday for 3.5 hours. Whoa!!!

71 when I started at Chico is was 85 bucks a semester, up to 125 when I left. 200 bucks a month from the folks was plenty to live on. Those were the days.

Thanks so much. I had the parents help the first 2 years, then they divorced and my dad was wiped out. I fought fires in Northern California in the summer the last 2 years to pay for mine. Got a stipend while I was in student government. Graduated in 74 as well, and was able to be in student government while a first year graduate student.

I used to swear by Orbitz, but lately have found better prices on priceline.com.

The best time to buy does not seem to be consistent, but I think 8 months in advance is too far to get the best deals since they are not really worried about filling the flight that early. Last year I looked for about 2 months for my USA trip and the price was better about a month before the trip than it had been before.

I've never had a problem with Orbitz or Priceline and have bought at least 20 R/T tickets to various destinations from them.

Originally Posted by aging one

We are going home to look at universities for my kids

Here ya go. Great place.

Stanford and Cal are their top two picks Norts. I have a nice alumni t shirt they got me two years ago when they first visited.

Cheapest Days to Fly and Best Time to Buy Airline Tickets

Just remember to read the terms & conditions - many of these cheap flights will become very expensive very quickly if you find you have to alter departure dates or times ... I rarely book more thn 2-3 months in advance...

If airlines sold paint:
First you spend days trying to reach them by phone to ask if they have paint. Nobody answers. So you drive to their store, and the conversation goes something like this...
Customer: Hi. How much is your paint?
Clerk: Well, sir, that depends on quite a lot of things.
Customer: Can you give me a guess? Is there an average price?
Clerk: Our lowest price is $12 a gallon, and we have 60 different prices up to $200 a gallon.
Customer: What's the difference in the paint?
Clerk: Oh, there isn't any difference; it's all the same paint.
Customer: Well, then I'd like some of that $12 paint.
Clerk: When do you intend to use the paint?
Customer: I want to paint tomorrow. It's my day off.
Clerk: Sir, the paint for tomorrow is the $200 paint.
Customer: When would I have to paint to get the $12 paint?
Clerk: You would have to start very late at night in about 3 weeks. But you will have to agree to start painting before Friday of that week and continue painting until at least Sunday.
Customer: You've got to be kidding!
Clerk: I'll check and see if we have any paint available.
Customer: You have shelves FULL of paint! I can see it!
Clerk: But it doesn't mean that we have paint available. We sell only a certain number of gallons on any given weekend. Oh, and by the way, the price per gallon just went to $16. We don't have any more $12 paint.
Customer: The price went up as we were talking?
Clerk: Yes, sir. We change the prices and rules hundreds of times a day, and since you haven't actually walked out of the store with your paint yet, we just decided to change. I suggest you purchase your paint as soon as possible. How many gallons do you want?
Customer: Well, maybe five gallons. Make that six, so I'll have enough.
Clerk: Oh no, sir, you can't do that. If you buy paint and don't use it, there are penalties and possible confiscation of the paint you already have.
Customer: WHAT?
Clerk: We can sell enough paint to do your kitchen, bathroom, hall and north bedroom, but if you stop painting before you do the bedroom, you will lose your remaining gallons of paint.
Customer: What does it matter whether I use all the paint? I already paid you for it!
Clerk: We make plans based upon the idea that all our paint is used, every drop. If you don't, it causes us all sorts of problems.
Customer: This is crazy!! I suppose something terrible happens if I don't keep painting until after Saturday night!
Clerk: Oh yes! Every gallon you bought automatically becomes the $200 paint.
Customer: But what are all these "Paint on sale from $10 a gallon" signs?
Clerk: Well, that's for our budget paint. It only comes in half-gallons.
One $5 half-gallon will do half a room. The second half-gallon to complete the room is $20. None of the cans have labels, some are empty and there are no refunds, even on the empty cans.
Customer: To hell with this! I'll buy what I need somewhere else!
Clerk: I don't think so, sir. You may be able to buy paint for your bathroom and bedrooms and your kitchen and dining room from someone else, but you won't be able to paint your connecting hall and stairway from anyone but us. And I should point out sir, that if you paint in only one direction, it will be $300 a gallon.
Customer: I thought your most expensive paint was $200!
Clerk: That's if you paint around the room to the point at which you started. A hallway is different.
Customer: And if I buy $200 paint for the hall, but only paint in one direction, you'll confiscate the remaining paint?
Clerk: No, we'll charge you an extra use fee plus the difference On your next gallon of paint. But I believe you're getting it now, sir.
Customer: You're insane!
Clerk: Thanks for painting with us ... next person in the line, please