Anybody have any advice about buying airline tickets for cheap online? A group of 4 of us are flying to Dallas in March, and we had a direct AA flight found for $330 out of DSM, but overnight it went up to $430. Is it likely that if we wait it will go back down?? TIA
Flight question
- Thread starter d4cy
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CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
If the flight isn't sold out, they'll drop the prices.
We bought our Jamaica tickets (2 of them) for a total of $1558 after all fees and what not when our stimulus check arrived.
Not long after it doubled in price, and stayed there for a good amount of time.
As the flight drew near, and seats were available, the price went down near what we paid.
Yes, the price may go down.
We bought our Jamaica tickets (2 of them) for a total of $1558 after all fees and what not when our stimulus check arrived.
Not long after it doubled in price, and stayed there for a good amount of time.
As the flight drew near, and seats were available, the price went down near what we paid.
Yes, the price may go down.
We must have gotten really lucky, because my wife and I paid just under $500 per ticket to Jamaica (round trip) last June. I think we booked it in April.
Anyway, check ticket prices directly with airlines as well as the cheap ticket sites. If Allegiant Air travels to Dallas, look at their prices. The smaller airlines usually have better prices than the big ones, but you do have to watch for hidden costs. Allegiant's website defaulted our tickets to Vegas with a bunch of add-on expenses like seat choice. You have to manually remove these options to avoid the extra expense, and it can be difficult to do some times. Many airlines are charging for each bag you bring now too, so look at that.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
June tickets to Jamaica should be less than fall, because of the lack of demand.
Good price, though.
- Mar 27, 2006
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Allegiant doesn't fly to Dallas. American Airlines has a $15 fee for any checked luggage. As does Northwest, and Delta I think. Fee goes up if you bring more than one bag.
Your best bet getting to Dallas is on American, though. You could try looking at United, but you will have to go through Chicago or Denver to get there. If you fly Northwest, you will go through Minneapolis or Memphis.
When it comes to cost, the price will probably remain high until about 1 week or 2 before the flight. Then, they could come back down. You might be in good shape, though. I have made the flight from Des Moines to Dallas several times, and it is rarely full. American seems to have problems filling flights out of Des Moines. I would keep checking and hope that they drop the price.
Well I know that if you buy on Orbitz and someone buys the same flight for a cheaper price after you, they'll refund you the difference. Don't know if that helps better...
Besides the fact we all need to try our best to support our local airport to help keep rates down for all, I would caution you about traveling to Omaha for a couple reasons.
1) weather - I know more than a couple people that have missed their flights out of Omaha due to weather during the winter months. You're rolling the dice a bit considering the car drive west. What is that cost saving worth to you?
2) what is your time worth to not have to spend 4 hour round trip driving to and from Omaha? How safe is the drive home? I personally tend to be tired after a long trip.
Don’t get me wrong. If I'm flying a family of four somewhere and can save a couple hundred bucks per ticket, I have to consider this very seriously. What I don't understand are those that will make this trek to save less than $100 when in the end, are they really saving anything? Unless you book at the last minute (or we have a bowl game announced), DSM has been very competitive with Omaha and KC that last few years.
- Mar 27, 2006
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If you live in the Ames area, maybe take a look at the Cedar Rapids airport. It's not that much further than Des Moines, and you can get pretty much anywhere you need to go.
Looks like they have a direct flight to Dallas as well.
Did a quick check on Orbitz and they have direct flights from Cedar Rapids to Dallas for about $300.
If you want to fly through Atlanta, the price is $178.
Looks like they have a direct flight to Dallas as well.
Did a quick check on Orbitz and they have direct flights from Cedar Rapids to Dallas for about $300.
If you want to fly through Atlanta, the price is $178.
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I seriously recommend checking them out, saved me close to 400 dollars flying to Germany a couple summers ago and lesser a lesser amount when I went out to California. Also if you can be flexible its typically cheaper to fly during the week than on the weekends.
- Mar 27, 2006
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Ok, maybe it's about an hour further, but in relation to a place like Omaha or KC, it's not that bad.
kayak.com is the heat for saving money. Play with your dates and availability to see what travel days save you the most money.
And +1 to Erick's advice. Even though the tickets go up in price, a couple weeks before they fly is the best time to buy, as long as they're underbooked. It's kind of like trading stocks.
And +1 to Erick's advice. Even though the tickets go up in price, a couple weeks before they fly is the best time to buy, as long as they're underbooked. It's kind of like trading stocks.
Why not drive? Dallas in less than 12 hours and you will have a car when you get there. I have been having great luck with hotelpricefinder.com for rooms lately It compares 28 sites. I also have been getting good prices for packages on AAA.com. Hotel+flight has been great.
DSM has been a legacy airline stronghold for ever, I do Omaha 5-6 times/year (did it last week) and drive to DSM. I fly every week and don't fly NWA, United or American anymore. I use Southwest most every week and will continue to drive into Iowa vs. paying legacy fares. My roundtrip fare last week was $230 vs. $400+ to DSM. Frankly my company now demands Omaha vs. DSM
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
For a flight that we thought I would be taking on a recurring basis (three times a year), we priced the difference between DSM and Omaha. Omaha was $3 cheaper. Really. It was pretty easy to see that we could save ourselves the $3 by flying out of DSM.
Kayak is a great option and you should certainly look at it a couple of times a day. It may not be a direct correaltion, but it seems like plane ticket prices go up and down with gas prices, so if you see a big drop in gas, look for tickets then.
