Airfares gone through the roof!

[Scott]

Our group trip was planned for Sat-Sat and was originally 500.00+- and as soon as a group of 18 booked it went to $750 overnight. We changed to a Wed-Wed and it's about $450. Only $20 difference from what I paid last year.

 

[DandyDon]

Thanks everyone! This was really meant to be a rant - but I appreciate everyones help!

I just bought two tickets for $791 each:mooner:

Hopefully Orbitz's price assurance guarantee will kick in and I'll get a refund. The dates and destination were pretty much set because this is an annual trip with a fairly large group (club).

Didn't like the adventure I found?

Good luck on the Orbitz guarantee gimmick. Someone has to book the same outbound flight, same arrival, same returns but lightening does strike sometimes. I bet you don't wait until the last month again.

Our group trip was planned for Sat-Sat and was originally 500.00+- and as soon as a group of 18 booked it went to $750 overnight. We changed to a Wed-Wed and it's about $450. Only $20 difference from what I paid last year.

Were you trying to book as a group? Sometimes it helps to break up into smaller groups. I wonder if airlines still have group discounts?

 

[judydivescoz]

Just started to plan a few weeks in late July early August and its just below $420. From LGA or HPN (westchester)to CZM. Not bad, ned to get a commitment from hubby that he will make this trip.

 

[Scott]

Were you trying to book as a group? Sometimes it helps to break up into smaller groups. I wonder if airlines still have group discounts?

We quit using group rates when frequent flier miles came out. Now everyone books heir own flights.

 

[DandyDon]

Good luck on the Orbitz guarantee gimmick. Someone has to book the same outbound flight, same arrival, same returns but lightening does strike sometimes.

One of several reasons I prefer to book with the airline direct, even if I find the fare on Sidestep (which will usually link me to the reservation on the airline's site, sometimes at a lower price than the same airline site quoted - really!) is that if the fare goes down within 30 days, the airline may refund some. Varies with airlines. Anyway, I continue the email alerts for 30 days after ticketing - just in case.

If the fare goes up, say for $700 to $1,200 or whatever, I tell myself that at least I paid less than that. :boxjester:

 

[BigHarryDiver]

Were you trying to book as a group? Sometimes it helps to break up into smaller groups. I wonder if airlines still have group discounts?

I booked a trip to Roatan last year with my LDS which included discounted airfare from Delta. A month before the trip I found out I could have booked my own air and save 25-30% over the airline offered discounted fare for the large group.

 

[Willar]

I just booked Delta Chicago MDW to CZM thru ATL for $316 each RT including all taxes and fees for June-2010. Had to fly on Thursday, Saturday was ($50?) higher. I had been watching the fare at Kayak.com and found the sale.

 

[DandyDon]

I just booked Delta Chicago MDW to CZM thru ATL for $316 each RT including all taxes and fees for June-2010. Had to fly on Thursday, Saturday was ($50?) higher. I had been watching the fare at Kayak.com and found the sale.

Kayak.com (Sidestep - same site, same log-in) has long been my favorite for searching. It's screws up on locations at times, like not knowing all of the nearby airports to check, or putting Villa Blanca 30 miles east in the Atlantic - so like with Wiki, I confirm info elsewhere. But if you open a few tabs and compare different approaches, different origins, arriving & departing Cancun, open-jaws trips with arrival in one and departure from the other - it's a handy tool.

Then they will usually link you directly to the airline's site with the record set up there. I had one trip I was helping with recently with Continental.com giving higher fares before and after I found lower fares found on Sidestep for the same exact trip, booked on Continental. I tried logging in with my Platinum elite account: no good. Even cleared cookies: no good. Sidestep was simply booking on Continental.com cheaper than Continental.com would on the same ticket.

I used to think that Lubbock people were just stuck with higher fares as we seemed to always pay so much more than almost everyone else, usually in the $500s when the rest of the US and parts of Canada were getting $300s. Now I think I was just paying too much for my lack of experience.

Two months ago tho, I couldn't find anything good. After paying a flat $300 once, I couldn't get into the idea of paying twice as much! I could not find anything for less than $600, but found Roatan for $560, so I booked the latter. NOW it has come back down for my preferred dates, but I've been wanting to get back to Roatan anyway...

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Keep checking...!

 

[Martha]

Yes, I definitely recommend using one of the fare tracker websites. I use SideStep.com and the fare I've been watching just dropped $100. It's an awesome travel tool.

 

[DandyDon]

My dates are Feb 13-20.

American is now quoting $570 including taxes for those dates, with an overnight in DFW on the way down. For those prices, you can find a decent room for a lot less I think. Best Western DFW for $60, and there are cheaper...

I just bought two tickets for $791 each:mooner:

Hopefully Orbitz's price assurance guarantee will kick in and I'll get a refund. The dates and destination were pretty much set because this is an annual trip with a fairly large group (club).

But I don't guess you can get that if you're locked in on Orbitz flights.