Know anything about buying airline tickets?

Question

I will need to buy a ticket to go from Fort Wayne Indiana to San Diego California to see my son graduate Marine boot camp. That will be about Jan. 18, 2008. When I look at cheaptickets.com, and put in when leaving and returning, does that price include both ways, or is it just one? Do they get more expensive the closer you get to the date? I've heard they do. Thanks for the help.

Answer 1

The further in advance you book, the better rate you will get 99% of the time. This site lists great cheap travel sites: http://www.travelbargainsites.com One site searches all the airlines for the best fare.

Answer 2

To give my honest answer, buying airline tickets is not much different from playing the stock market. The ticket price may go up, or it may go down. As you get closer to the date, the price for a seat may drop - or it may not. Worse yet, there may be no seats at all. It all depends on supply and demand, i.e. how many seats remain unsold.

In your case, with your planned flight less than three months away, you don't have a lot of time to watch the prices to see which way they are going. Another factor working against you is that Fort Wayne is a smaller market, so there is less competition among the airlines there. You MIGHT be able to find a better deal at another airport that isn't too bad a drive, although I'd factor in the cost of gas for the drive, gas prices being what they are.

Another option is to look at discount tickets that require a Saturday stay if you plan to be there for the weekend anyway. Just bear in mind these discount tickets are often unrefundable, so if your plans change, the money is gone.

As for whether the ticket prices are one-way or round trip, you should be getting the round trip price if you are giving both a departure date and a return date. Well, I hold this answer was SOME help - I know I made planning airline travel sound messy and complicated, but that's because it often is. :)

Answer 3

Air fares generally go up the closer to flight date you purchase a ticket.

If you call an airline known to fly from Fort Wayne to San Diego, and you ask a reservations agent what the lowest published fare is on that routing, they can tell you "the lowest fare is xxx dollars" and what airlines offer that fare.
The previous post is good advice, also ask if flying from a larger airport (Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, etc) will get you nonstop flights at a lower fare.

Then the trick is to call every airline and ask if that fare is available on the days you want to travel, or around those days, depending on your flexibility.

Several other things to know:

If your travel has a connection at a hub city, sometimes you get a further discount off the fare by making a connection in a certain city, which you will do anyway, since I dont thing there is any non-stop service from Fort Wayne to San Diego on any airline.

Travel agents (or online travel agencies like Expedia, etc) charge a commission to make a profit, dealing directly with the airline usually avoids that charge.

Airline web sites sometimes have lower fares than the same airlines offer over the phone, and have no "ticket fee" that is usually charged if you book and pay over the phone.

Online "consolidator" agencies like Priceline, Site59, etc sometimes can get you lower fares, but (VERY IMPORTANT) you dont get to choose the airline, the flight times, or the routing. Also, if you offer a low fare and they accept it, you ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT CHANGE THE ITINERARY FOR ANY AMOUNT. Do not even bother to ask the airline or the agency, they will NOT do it, so dont buy this way if you even think you may need to change the ticket.

Good luck getting to see the graduation !

Answer 4

Instead asking these questions to non travel agents here on Yahoo Answers, you just can walk or call any travel agencies in your town and you will have a professional answer.