My wife and I are adopting a child sometime in February. Because the baby has not yet been born we don't yet know the dates we will be traveling. We want to buy tickets at a reasonable price without paying the outrageous last minute ticket fees. Airlines don't seem to offer emergency fares in cases of adoption at least the airlines that I have talked to. What is the best way to purchase tickets or make travel plans so that I am not paying through the nose. I am flying domestically from DFW to MSP.
2007-12-29 05:43:52 · 6 answers · asked by Jeffrey G 2 in Travel ➔ Air Travel
I don't think it makes sense to buy now and then pay the $100 later, because you still have to pay the fare difference. So your advance purchase ticket cannot actually be used to travel any time you want. You are only using the value of that ticket to buy up to the high last minute fare, in addition to the $100.
If I were you, I'd try to get tickets using miles. Ask around friends and relatives who have miles you can use for this special occasion.
2007-12-29 07:25:22 · answer #1 · answered by averagebear 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're caught between the proverbial rock and the hard place. Discount tickets require that you select dates. You can book "open" tickets without dates, but you must pay the expensive, unrestricted fares. Airlines do not offer so-called "emergency fares"; they generally only offer last-minute discounts for funerals and even those are expensive.
You can pick dates to get a discount and hope that you can change the dates if necessary. (That could get expensive, since you have to pay any fare increase plus a change fee). Or, look for one of the discount carriers. AirTran is usually much cheaper than a nonstop flight on Northwest or American between Dallas and Minneapolis. However, you'll have to take an out-of-the-way routing through Atlanta.
2007-12-29 09:29:14 · answer #2 · answered by The Shadow 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I liked the other persons idea of purchasing the tickets now, and then paying $100 to change them. However, sometimes you can get lucky and get cheap tickets close to the date. It depends on how full the planes are. If there are a lot of seats open, they will sometimes discount them close to the departure date. Not sure if there is an easy answer to this question. I would continue to call airlines and see what your options are.
Ok, update: I checked kayak.com to see what a ticket would cost for Jan 1st from DFW to MSP. Nonstop tickets are going for $259. (roundtrip) kayak.com is a great source to use for last minute tickets
2007-12-29 06:11:15 · answer #3 · answered by ethansma24 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You could buy cheap tickets and then pay the reservation change fee (usually $100). Or, you could buy tickets that are a bit more expensive; they don't have a change penalty.
2007-12-29 06:03:54 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes u can buy tickets with flexible dates that are not subjected to any change fees but you are subjected to the availability of that flight anyway :P it will cost a lot of money so better make up your mind!
2007-12-29 11:39:54 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Talk to a travel agent. You may be able to make provisional bookings for a range of dates, although you'll have to finalise one of them at least a couple of weeks before you fly.
Not all agents allow this but it might be possible.
2007-12-29 05:48:38 · answer #6 · answered by Kukana 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋