2 days later, I can't afford the airline ticket anymore

[trying2becomeMD]

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OMG,

I should have known better... When I checked various sites for a ticket (LOS Angeles to Burlington, VT) for the past 2 days, all of them had the tickets for around $200.

Then all of sudden, I am finding the ticket prices in $800 range now.

What is going on????? Is it because the weekend is coming up? Is there a chance that the ticket price will come down again? I can not afford $800 ticket now. There is ONE option of $500, but that is still too much. Besides, it wouldn't fit in my interview schedule.

HELP!!!!!

 

[dustinspeer]

Its probably the date timeframe. Maybe you went past the cut-off date for time before the flight. Check www.hotwire.com, www.orbitz.com, www.priceline.com, other than that you are probably SOL.

 

[Dr. Kermit]

Usually ticket prices soar if you're the flight is less than a week, if you're flying a round trip on the same day, or if you choose not stay over on a Saturday.

The best prices usually come 2-3 weeks in advance.

 

[sidewinder]

Just adding Cheaptickets.com

 

[FSUMED]

Try Pricline or something similar bidding the price that the ticket was orginally offered for. The same once happened to me, I found a cheap ticket to texas for like 300, waiting and came back and found it had gone up to $920 😱 ...so I bid 250 priceline and got it 😉

 

[gooloogooloo]

No, there is no way for you to get a ticket cheap within 7 days. YOU MUST BUYS a ticket ahead of time as long as possible. Most airlines SOAR their prices 7 days before, some airlines 14 days.

The reason is that, if you are in need of travel within 7 days, that probably means you don't have too many options available. Therefore you will buy the ticket no matter what the price is. If they sell ticket very expensively before 7 days, consumers would have plenty of other option to arrange their flights.

Priceline and travelocity all are the same. You CANNOT buy a ticket cheap within 7 days of traveling. In travelocity you cannot even select dates within 7 days if you want to use the availability search mode.

I have read many complaints about buying an airline ticket on this board recently. I am sort of an expert on this, since I buy ticket for myself and for people frequently. Some of you might think, "well, since the airline market is in a big recession now, why would they still sell tickets for such high price?" We shouldn't feel that we are deserved to get a cheap tickets because of their tragedies. In fact, market adjustment not necessarily needs to be a price adjustment, but could be a quantity adjustment. There are sill a fixed amount of potential travelers. Instead of lowering prices, airlines would cut down their flights and man power to save their budget. My point is that, we shouldn't think that we are now having a larger likelihood of getting a better deal. In fact, we are in a worse likelihood since econimists have estimated the recovery of airlines sector will last more than 1.5 years.

 

[dustinspeer]

I kinda disagree. I don't think the market is fixed. A lot of people choose to fly when they could in reality drive. if consumer fear is high, they will choose another option if feasible. Lets say I am scared to fly from Memphis to St Louis. If the flight prices are 500 bucks roundtrip, I would definitely drive, knowing I can get there in about 5 hours with less than a tank of gas each way. Saves me money and a little peace of mind. but if they slash prices to like 150 bucks, then its worth the convenience to arrive in an hour or so and pay the ticket. You still can get late tickets at a feasable price with priceline. They buy tickets when airlines have bunches of empty seats. If someone wanted to buy for a flight, then an airline would offer a normal price, but when the date of the flight approaches and the plane is half filled, then they will cut the prices to fill the seats. Its only logical.

 

[trying2becomeMD]

Hi all,

I am so sorry for not saying that I have the interview on 12/10/01. As you can imagine, when I was first posting, I was very upset. I am still very frustrated. Even if I decide to go with $800 ticket, there will be THREE stops between LA and Vermont. Before, when it was $200, there were only 2 stops.

Do you think that if I wait couple more weeks, there is a chance that the price might come down? If I absolutely have to, I'll buy the darn ticket for $800 around 12/5/01, go through 17 hours of flight (as opposed to 10 hours with the cheaper tickets 2 days ago). Or I might beg the admissions office to change my interview date. (but even in january, the sites are showing $600-$800, so why even bother changing date, right? -- don't want to annoy the adm. office)

Does anyone have any experience buying the tickets later and finding a cheaper price?

Thanks all for your input.

 

[lake show]

dustinspeer, what googoogaagaa (or whatever 🙂 ) is talking about is that there is a fixed number of travelers, mainly business travelers and those vacationers who fly crosscountry or across oceans. these people will fly no matter what the situation is because their job requires it, therefore the number of travelers is fixed. the remainder of the citizens is the reason why airlines are tanking it, those who thinks of flying as a luxury, not a necessity, will think twice before boarding.

if you look at flight prices, short flights, such as SF-LA have not gone down by much because much of their business is for business travel so their flights are still 80-90% full. however, those cross-country flights which have more leisure travelers have slashed their prices. now, i'm not sure why the original poster's prices shot up like crazy...only the airline executives know.

the bottom line is, if there are a fixed number of travelers (which it seems is the case), lowering the prices only lowers your revenues if you don't get a comparable return from the lower prices. therefore, airlines don't think it's profitable to lower prices, rather keep those prices high on flights with a high percentage of fixed travelers until the average joe starts feeling safe to fly.

 

[watto]

Here is a cheaper flight for you:

I don't know where you are flying out of, but if Northwest airlines services your area, you can use this deal:

Go to nwa.com and search for flights. Be sure to input this code--it is a discount travel certificate I have:
012 0192425477 6
You will also need the reference code: PD479
I think that you can get from L.A. to VT for $308 using this, if worse comes to worse.

You should also go to travelocity.com and sign up for email alerts for when this flight drops below a certain price.

Your interview must be the 11th, not the 10th, right? So you would leave the 10th, return the 11th, evening?

 

[watto]

If you hurry, there is a $226 flight on the dates you want out of Orange County on nwa.com--

Book it this time!

 

[trying2becomeMD]

WATTO,

I am breathless from having to execute airline ticket purchase in I think 1 minute!!!!!

I just purchased a ticket for $226!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks so much for everything, from the detailed plan (motel, that you can ask for 2pm interview, to take your bag, etc). I am SO ETERNALLY GRATEFUL.

Heck, the flight will have 3 connections, and I'll end up staying till Wednesday noon(yeah, I'll have interview on 12/11, tuesday), but at this point, I can't believe how trivial those things seem since I saved myself good $1000 dollars. Yup, you heard me right, when I went to Orbitz and chose the cheapest they had, which was $600 something, the next screen told me that "Sorry but airline has just decided to change its fare, now to $1265". How crazy is that? I was so mad at myself, that I just about gave up on interviewing at Vermont.

Watto, Thanks again for all the info (I couldn't believe that you even helped with your own travel certificate!). I really appreciate you being so caring toward your fellow interviewee at Vermont. Hope we both get good news 🙂

And to everyone else, thank you for helping me. (Sorry this post is long, but I had to take this time to thank Watto. I hope you all understand. Watto, if I ever meet you, I'll have to take you out for a dinner or something...)

 

[gooloogooloo]

Congrat. and thanks a lot for other people's help.

Indeed, I think the next time you book flight, there are several things to remember.

1. You can choose some alternative airports, such as Orange County, that will dramatically decrese your fare.
2. Definitely inquire price from BOTH real-person travel agent AND online.
3. When you find price online, don't bother to use airline website or travel sites like expedia.com or orbitz. Try travelocity and priceline first. Because Orbitz and expedia are just like travel agency operated online. Airlines-owned website always sell flight for sky high price (ticekt price most of time). But priceline and travelocity will give you much better deals because the untraditional way they sell. (price bidding, market equilibrium nominating, minimizing revenue-per-flight, maximizing quanitity of sale.)
4. It's almost the case that, you get cheaper price from real main-street-brick-wall travel agencies for internationaly flights, especially asia ones.
5. Price will ALWAYS go up. The range the price of a certain flgith could be is pre-set by airlines marketing regulatory organization. IT'S A RULE that price will go up after the certain day. They simply cannot sell you a ticket for a low price on the day of traveling at the airport even if the sear is empty! Once I saw a man paying $3000 for a ticket at the counter!!

dustinspeer:
In fact, VERY FEW people on each flight have choice other than flying, for example, driving. In trying2submit OMG's case, he definitely doesn't have a choice of driving, cause it will take too long.
Other than the distance, there are many things drive a person to fly.
1. Flying is actually a stastically much safer method of transportation.
2. Railroad price is as high as an airfare. If you want a sleeping seat, every night cost equally as an airticket.
3. If driving requires longer than 10 hours, a hotel is also needed.
4. Women, elders and younger age group face more disadventagement in driving.
5. ALWAYS buy a ticket if you think the price is reasonable. Don't try to bet on luck that the price might go down. It's not about economics, but my personal moral advise. It makes my life easier.

 

[watto]

Just glad you were able to purchase a ticket without having to take out a second mortgage, Trying2submit!

Tell you what, if we both end up at Vermont you can buy me lunch in the wonderful cafeteria you will be treated to a meal at during your visit at the school. Here is a hint, the meal tickets are pretty much unlimited so make sure you stock up on gum and candy while you are moving through the line. That's actually a suggestion from one of the students who talked to us during the day!

 

[Warren P. Cheswick]

Most airlines had a huge sale that ended on November 1st. That could have been your problem. My ticket prices went up about $40, but still fairly cheap considering what they were last year.