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[starlagurl]

What's your philosophy on booking trips? Do you book your flight right away, or wait for a better price to come along?

[travelmonster]

Yes, I book my flights as soon as I know I want to go somewhere - that is essentially due to the fact that I regularly fly with low-cost airlines and the ones in the UK give the cheapest prices first and they go up as people buy seats.

[starlagurl]

You are talking about domestic American flights that come down right?

Because in Canada, I noticed that they usually go up.

[kitkatgo]

We usually book early, for the cheaper flights. Waiting for last minute deals is too stressful for me, lol.

[skylab]

I usually know what the price should be. If it's too good of a deal then I'll buy now otherwise Id rather wait till the last minute anyway.

[starlagurl]

Oooh, where are you going? And will you book your flights early or late?

[mmbcross]

We had a dynamite US$ 652.00 airfare from Miami to Prague for the 31st. Oct this year. We waited too long, and now it has gone up to US$ 703.00. We have just purchased it for fear that it will go up even further.

When you see a fare that just can´t be beaten, buy it!!!

[jeremystravels]

Since I normally plan my vacation over a year in advance I have a pretty elaborate way of determining airfare prices and what to buy.

What I typically do is when I plan a trip I watch prices 4-6 months later from a certain date since flights for a year later have not been released yet. Since flight prices are typically the cheapest during this time window I see what the lowest comes up over the period of a month or two. Then when the dates come up for my trip I know what to expect [minus high low season differences].

Unfortunately right now plane tickets are horribly reduced until June, then sky rocket back up for July and August. The technique might not work right now with the odd situation the airlines are in. Now I am holding off for tickets to become cheaper in August. I can buy a ticket to Australia for $400 cheaper than I can get to go to Egypt on the same exact dates. That just isn't right!!

[raniroo]

It depends where I am flying to.....normally I would book as soon as I know when I am going...

I am going to Oz in July (which is peak travel time from the UAE) and flights were double the price! So I waited hoping that I wouldn't miss out on the flight..... amonth later they had come down in price so I booked.....when I went to pay and have the ticket issued, the price had come down even more and there was still availability, so I was lucky!

[sianeth]

Everything I've personally booked has pretty much been quite spontaneous. As long as its a reasonable price then I'd rather just book and commit to it rather than just dawdling and being unsure.

I'm looking at August flights at the mo... argh, expense!!

[papayaprincess]

Hey,

For most of my flights, I book them relatively well in advance, so I give a few days of leeway to find the cheapest price. Although often from Ottawa we only really have Air Canada as our international airline, so there's not as much competition between different airlines.

There was one time though, when I found a flight to Reykjavik, Iceland for $398 (CDN, with taxes included) from Montreal...I hadn't planned on going to Iceland, but I thought screw it! That's an amazingly cheap flight!! It turned out to be the right move, because the flight was subsequently cancelled only a few weeks later because it wasn't profitable!

I'm leaving out to Vancouver in a few weeks and from there I would like to fly onward to Taiwan to visit some friends. I've been looking at flight prices, but I haven't been able to find anything lower than $1000. I'm hoping that out in Vancouver I may be able to find some smaller travel comapnies with cheaper flights to Asia. Fingers crossed!

Cheers

[starlagurl]

Wow. How the crap did you find that Iceland trip???

[papayaprincess]

Hey,

I found the Iceland flight May 2008 on one of those travel deal sites...it was with this company: http://www.vacancestmr.com/en/destinations_adulte.php

Unfortunately though they got rid of the deal really quick! At least though, if you're ever in the UK they have flights for 200 pds with return to Iceland, but as far as Canadian flights, I haven't been able to find anything quite as good!

Cheers

[mmbcross]

Finding inexpensive flights seems to be a bit of a crap game. We found a fare on Swiss from Miami to Prague in November for US$ 659.00. We procrastinated too long (two days), and by the time we purchased the fare, it had gone to US$ 703.00. This is a 10-hour flight with a connection in Zurich.

So buy when you think the price is right, but never look back.

It's like buying a fabulous pair of shoes at a department store for US$ 30.00. You will be happy for the life of the shoes that you got a great deal, unless, that is, you are foolish enough to go back to check the price a week later and find they at on sale at US$ 25.00.

What the eye doesn't see the heart doesn't grieve!

[travelfreaks]

Well, if we had seen this we wouldnt have started a new topic....more research!

Tony & Diane

[greekcypriot]

We usually book early, for the cheaper flights. Waiting for last minute deals is too stressful for me, lol.

I also book early....if I wait for the last minute the price goes up a lot.
I was looking for flights from Greece to Manchester this morning for the Lake District, but see that they are quite high.
I find cheap when going, but to return the price is three times up. So, this makes me wait.

http://www.travelpod.com/members/greekcypriot

[kamyp]

Unfortunately as I a South African citizen, I usually require a visa for most of the countries that I visit. That usually means that I need a ticket to secure the visa. Usually we have to apply at least two weeks in advance or the price of the visa goes up for an emergency visa.

During this time I usually watching the R/$ exchange which affect the price dramatically depending on market conditions.

This basically means that I can't do absolute last minute deals and I book slightly in advance.


Regards,
Kamy

[corinneconley]

i usually book once i know what i am doing... being alone and being flexible is the best! you may get a random time of day but it saves money!

[laorfamily]

I take the opposite approach.

I only decide where to go when there are cheap flights + hotels available.

The key to saving money when traveling is to be flexible.

[mmbcross]

I planned to visit the UK in February or March from Miami, as fares tend to be lower during the winter season. I was right, the fares were quite reasonable, the lowest being on Air Europa at US$ 310.00. Imagine my dismay when I found taxes and fees were higher than the fare! The total fare to pay was around US$ 750.00. The tax would be less on a direct flight, but the fare is higher.

How did we get into this ludicrous situation? Can you imagine buying a car, and then being told the final cost would be doubled to cover taxes and fees? I think there would be a revolution. Are air passengers so docile that they accept anything that's thrown at them?

Here's a rule of thumb: For a domestic ticket, multiply the price by 1.25 and for an international ticket, multiply it by 1.75. If you are making a connection, the ratio can go up to 2 to 2.25".

What are all these taxes? I've tried to find out, and although I can locate the US taxes in detail, taxes charged by other countries are hard to find. For example the following comment appears on an online booking site: U.S. or international departure and arrival charges of up to US$ 200.00 may apply, depending upon the itinerary chosen. Does anyone know where I can get a breakdown of these taxes and fees?

Result of all this? I'm not going now. Everyone looses!

Remember when flights to the UK used to go for US$ 99.00?