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Airfare - WTH?

Discussion in 'Getting There & Getting Around' started by JennJenn, May 24, 2013.

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  1. JennJenn

    JennJenn Low-Roller

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    Hi everyone....well we were able to throw together a quick trip to Vegas from Detroit the middle of June. I've been watching airfare out of Detroit this week, and it's all over the place. We are able to go June 15th thru June 18 - coming back on the Red Eye with Delta...since I have miles I want to use. Looks like the flight times I've been looking at have doubled....I am thinking it's because of Memorial day.....positive thoughts we can get the price down to around $500 total....so far not looking so good!
     
  2. shifter

    shifter Degenerate Gambler

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    you know I was looking at flights for July and seeing great prices earlier in the week. I checked again yesterday and they went up by 50%. not sure if they were running some sales or what, but I'll just wait a bit longer.
     
  3. VegasBJ

    VegasBJ VIP Whale

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    Prices are really high right now. SWA to LAS is a 45 min flight for us, and they want $350 R/T. Blow me on that one.

    OTOH, I booked a 4-legged trip in October on American going LAX /Orlando / LAS / LAX and it was only $500 for the complete trip.
     
  4. Kickin

    Kickin Flea

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    We're thinking of going in a few weeks. I haven't even checked yet but my gf did and said flights were crazy high for those weekends, not just to Vegas either. May make sense to just use miles.
     
  5. Mitkraft

    Mitkraft VIP Whale

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    I've also been eyeballing flights lately and earlier in the week I could get tons of flighs to Vegas on Southwest for 6400 rapid rewards points (not sure the dollar equivilant) but now those have all gone up to 10k points.
     
  6. JennJenn

    JennJenn Low-Roller

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    Yeah, there is a good chance we might not be going to Vegas! So sad....my fingers are crossed prices will come down this weekend. I might just have to bite the bullet and fly first class! What to do...
     
  7. undathesea

    undathesea Grandissimo

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    Airfare varies day to day. Bing is a good tool to track airfare prices and they have a predictor of when a good time to buy is.

    I would wait at least another week or so and check everyday.

    I've been checking for mid-July lately and prices are sky-high. I just bought a ticket to Florida the other day and the same flight I bought last year (almost the same dates) at $200 cost me $550 this year.
     
  8. chess

    chess VIP Whale

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    you have to be on the look out... i nabbed a flight about a month ago for august thurs-tues on SWA on the east coast for $198 R/T NS
     
  9. NickyDim

    NickyDim Hockey is life

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    It's a day by day thing, you just have to keep an eye out. I'm looking now from JFK to LAS last week in july and one day I'll get $339 round trip, the next day it's $473, then two days later it's $370.
     
  10. JosieCat

    JosieCat VIP Whale

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    Go into Kayak and have daily prices sent to you.
     
  11. OnTheHorizon

    OnTheHorizon Low-Roller

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    I know airline prices are outrageous ... they're always in the 450-500 range from CLE to LAS (on United). Luckily last trip and my upcoming trip was taking care of because of credit card points (and yes, I pay my cc off every month). I just exhausted all my points though.

    Next year, I will get another cc with high bonus reward points and try to get another "free" trip and then cancel the card (they always carry a fee - with first year free). My credit score is in the excellent range, so it shouldn't affect it that much.
     
  12. sporty8705

    sporty8705 VIP Whale

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    From ONT Ca to LAS an hour flight was upwards of 133 bucks, for the first flight of the day. Then there was 84 for the rest of the flights.. from LAS-ONT was 110, turned into 135 holy shit and there are 6 of us flying. were flying since mom and sis are flying in from college in IND.. and that way we all fly home and get a ride..
     
  13. Ezzy711

    Ezzy711 VIP Whale

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    Oct 2012 and April 2013 I was able to fly Fla to LV on Delta first class at $800 RT. Was checking daily for a month for the beginning of July and couldn't even book coach for $800. Finally gave up and booked SWA for $540. Never flown them for such a long flight. I'm a little hesitant since I'm used to the nice first class seats and service but I just cannot bring myself to pay $1200+. At least it is a direct flight so will save time as well as money.
     
  14. crapsguy5000

    crapsguy5000 Low-Roller

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    So True

    This is true. I booked a trip for October on Delta; from North Carolina, through Atlanta, to Vegas. Prices were around $400.00 when one day it suddenly dropped to $277.00 round trip. I locked it in and even paid the extra $100.00 for the Economy Comfort seats for a total price; (taxes included); of only $377.00. One of the cheapest air fares I ever booked! I'm paying more for the hotel then the airfare. The only drawback is the flight back home leaves at 6:00 A.M. Vegas time.
     
  15. kmarcin

    kmarcin Low-Roller

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    With airline consolidation comes higher airfares

    After United merged with Continental and then Southwest merged with AirTran, airfares have gone nowhere but up. That's not to say that you can't find an airfare that's decent, but you almost have to check every day now.

    Airfare for early August to Vegas from Cleveland have been over $500 for the past few weeks. I can't say that I've seen such high airfare in the past 5-10 years for what is supposedly the slow season for Vegas.

    I'm considering actually flying out of Akron, Columbus, and/or even Pittsburgh if I can get a decent price. I'll keep checking daily, but spending $1000 for my wife and I to just get to Vegas will be pretty hard to swallow.
     
  16. JennJenn

    JennJenn Low-Roller

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    Thanks everyone. Our only choice for a direct flight is out of Detroit. All others are a couple of stops. I've signed up for Kayak emails and am checking everyday. Oddly enough, the same flights for 6/1 - 6/4 first class is $891 total for both of us (using 40,000 miles) as compared to 6/15 - 6/18 for FC at $2K. I am really thinking it's because of the Memorial Day holiday fares have gone completely out of control. The only other thing I can think of is 6/16 is Father's Day...but I don't think that is like Mother's Day in vegas.
     
  17. runningonthehub

    runningonthehub VIP Whale

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    High air fares are here to stay. The airlines are in full control. If you see a good deal, you better grab it. If you snooze, you lose.
     
  18. kmarcin

    kmarcin Low-Roller

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    Really surprised

    I just checked Spirit Airlines website and saw that from June 1 - June 4, there is non-stop airfare for about $168 out of Detroit. Now I understand that Spirit will nickel and dime a flier to death with its fees, but wow, that is one nice price.

    If I could get that kind of airfare for my August trip, I might even consider driving from Cleveland to Detroit just to snag that airfare.
     
  19. gilly from philly

    gilly from philly Low-Roller

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    The air fares of today are not high. People have just been spoiled by air fares that where not sustainable.
     
  20. bluerider

    bluerider Low-Roller

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    Not sure how accurate it is, but I've heard that most airlines feature their lowest prices on Tuesdays as that is the day of the week which the least amount of folks are booking.

    Take note of the pricing your seeing today and then take another look on Tuesday to see if they've dropped.

    Kayak also has a fare predictor, which estimates the chances of a better fare becoming available in the near future. Good info to assist with a decision, but not 100% reliable.

    Another trick I've been using lately is to book one way trips on different carriers. For instance, my upcoming trip I'm flying one airline out to Vegas on a one way ticket, then returning on a completely different airline. The result was a better total fare than any one carrier could offer round trip.

    Keep on it and you'll find something that'll work for you!
     
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