First Class Flights... when to buy?

Looking to book 4 first class tickets CLT-LAS for March 8th-12th 2020

right now they are running $937.00, which seems to me low as they may get. Anyone offer any experience or advice as what is a good "lock in" price? don't want to book to early or book to late either.

what is the average price you have seen for first class that time of year? I know March is a busy month and feel like I should jump on these now but don't want buyer's remorse later lol


help!?

 

Two things - if that is American Airlines, you'll almost for sure get an old US Air fleet plane with no IFE and No power receptacle of any kind, just a warning, so first class is just the priority boarding, free baggage, bigger seat, and a meal. That's why their 1st class thru CLT is so cheap.

Second, that seems pretty good price wise for first class, maybe not the best they can possibly do, but probably pretty close, even if it is American or some other airline similarly lacking in amenities. I have American 1st class booked for my next Vegas trip, and including a flight from LAS-CLT and CLT-TLH, I paid about $1150 per ticket incl taxes, fees, etc out the door and it ended up being the cheapest offer (actually go thru DFW on the way there but original purchase was thru charlotte both ways. The DFW route was ~$1600ea when I bought CLT for $1150, and had better hardware, I just got to swap to it for free after they cancelled a leg I originally booked, so I did)

 

The price is much more likely to go up than down. You can use Google Flights to track it if you are so inclined.

 

I've booked more FC flights than I'd like to count. The earlier the better has always worked for me. If it has come down, it has been by a few bucks and one leg inevitably gets sold out. Besides American, United is pretty much just as crappy. However, the additional legroom, the priority baggage and I've had decent food on United - so there's that!

 

The rate I have is for Delta flights out of Charlotte

 

Assuming that's probably thru Atlanta, and if so their ATL - LAS 1st class service is excellent. I can't get Delta 1st nearly that cheap from North Florida ever, but looks like that's the lower end of normal pricing from Charlotte. If the times are good for you, I'd say take it. I just randomly flipped thru skymiles for a non-scientific sampling of dates close to and far from today on CLT - LAS, and only things I see under 997ea are huge layovers or overnights crossing dates etc. Even those I don't see under high 800s Course I just used random dates. I have flown Delta twice this year though and for both flights, I booked way in advance and the prices never went down.

 

I would wait. I've never flown out of CLT but I have out of ORD, DSM, MDW and have scored GREAT deals sub-500 RT about 2 months out from travel.
2020 is far!

 

I do NOT work for Jet Blue and have no financial interest in the company. Doing the disclosure because I am a massive Jet Blue fan and believe its MINT service is, hands down, the best domestic First Class in the US. If you are going to have to connect anyway and not have a non-stop flight, I'd fly to Boston or JFK and do NON-STOP on MINT to LAS. MINT service is so enjoyable I almost don't want to get off the plane. Not kidding. I flew "First Class" on Delta this past Sunday from LAS to JFK as I needed to leave late in the day and the last Jet Blue MINT flight was midday. It was okay but I felt the seats were just a tad better than flying regular coach on Jet Blue; no comparison whatsoever to JB's MINT service. I haven't flown it but based on the photos I've seen, Jet Blue's MINT looks like Delta's Delta One and from the photos/videos, MINT still looks better, especially if you can book a private pod/suite, which I have done, many times, for between $549 and $599 one way. But, I like the service so much that I've shelled out as much as $1399 (rarely but I've done it). And I have felt it was worth every penny. A "high" one way fare is more typically $999.

The Jet Blue schedule now is just through early January. (I've already booked my MINT LAS to JFK flight on 1/1/2020 ). I book my flights as soon as the new schedule opens up and sometimes have gotten one way non-stop fares for as low as $599 (and for my April trip, the fare DROPPED from $999 to $449!!!!!!!!!!!) out of JFK. Boston tends to be a bit lower so I sometimes do JFK to Boston and then Boston/MINT to LAS.

 

Yeah, there's no going back (sigh).

 

took the plunge and purchased today

CLT-SLT-LAS

LAS-DTW-CLT

$937.50 each


I think I did the right thing, I don't see them going down much cheaper than that. March Madness, Con Expo will be going on that week, busy time of year

 

I used to track first class flights out of Knoxville to Vegas. I would look at booking a one-way FC ticket going out then economy coming home. Anything less than $350-400 one way was a steal. Looks like $488 on a random Tuesday is the cheapest it goes for me right now, butt it's been over $500 or $600 one way for awhile. Needless to say, I've been flying economy both ways for awhile...

Glad you found a price your comfortable with. That's the main point when it comes to airfare.

 

When you say the fare dropped, had you already booked, and if so, were you able to take advantage of this drop?

 

We have done 1st class from CLT a few times. Always use points and do not pay.

 

Also what I've seen with the Mint seats BOS <-> LAS is:

• They start out at $499 - $599.
• As soon as they sell 1, they boost the price to $749 - $849
• As soon as they sell 2, they boost the price to $1,099 - $1,199

At that point, you just gotta keep checking and sweat it out, they might not drop the price again until you're inside 4 weeks out.

 

Dumb question, but since First is refundable, can't you buy the ticket, if it goes down, cancel and rebook?

 

They sell both refundable and non refundable 1st class tickets... or at least many airlines do.

 

Shows you how much I fly first. Learn something new everyday

 

Most times I've found refundable coach tickets are still more expensive than non-refundable first class tickets.

 

I always fly first and delta out of atl has been outrageously priced the last few years. While I prefer them, I won’t pay the premium. I just flew first from clt and the plane and service were not great but beats coach. They announced before take off that WiFi wasn’t working. Unacceptable. The nuts weren’t warmed and we had to ask for drinks. I normally have much better service and at least WiFi. As others said, going thru Dallas is much better.

As it the when to buy question. I always buy one way tickets. I look for the times I want and stalk it on all three majors. I usually book about 90 days out. I prefer aisle and those sell out first normally. This time I’m on American back too but many times I go out American and back United. I’ve flown as low as $800 and never over $1k from Florida with a layover.

 

ABSOLUTELY! Yes I am booked already. I am Mosaic so I can change flights for no fees but would have to pay an increased price, unless it is within 24 hours of the flight, in which case I not only don't pay change fees but don't pay for an increased fare, no matter how big.

Not sure about the change fees for MINT service if you are not Mosaic but you can definitely rebook. My credit, good for a year (though I have already used it for my late June/July 4th trip) was more than $1000.