Yes, it is true that the cost of airfare can fluctuate hundreds if not thousands of dollars in the blink of an eye with no seemingly logical explanation. Trust me, as I have just had this happen. In a few days I will be leaving for a three-week business trip to Brazil, for which my travel arrangements had been finalized as far back as June. Or, so I thought. To my surprise, our travel coordinator was up in arms the other day that our flights had just jumped about $5,000 out of thin air.
In over 10 years of booking tons of flights for our busy department, she has never seen this happen. In her experience there may be a few hundred dollars variance from the time a reservation is booked to when it is actually ticketed and paid, but never such a large swing. Luckily, she has contacts in high places (that is how the travel industry works) that adjusted our tickets back to their original prices. But the point is that shopping for airfare can be a very wild ride. I'd like to share a few tips to keep in mind while booking your next flight.
1. Budget and watch: If you have the benefit of preplanning your vacation or even a business trip in advance, I suggest that you fix a budget for the airfare and use a website like Kayak.com or Cheapflights.com to track prices starting at least eight months to six months prior. When the magic price appears for the exact dates you want to travel, book it. My sister goes to Hawaii each year in November for her anniversary and historically uses this method. She finds unbelievable deals sometimes eight months in advance of her travel dates. This year she did not follow this approach and is unhappy at the thought of paying $1,000 for airfare that she typically gets for $425.
2. Flexibility pays off: If you have room to play within your travel dates, this can be a cost saver. For example, if you know the month you would like to travel in, but you leave your departure and return dates open, you can potentially save hundreds of dollars. In a quick online search that I did for tickets to Honolulu, Hawaii, from the New York area this November, KAYAK.com was able to find a similar flight schedule of one connection yet save me $208 per ticket just by looking three days before and after my ideal dates.
3. Consider using a travel agent: Believe it or not, there are still such things as travel agents out there!
Airlines will make contracts or offer package deals or price breaks with their travel partners that never get published online. Therefore, it is a myth that you can always find the best airfare prices through websites. Sure, it is convenient and efficient, but it is not necessarily the best deal available. This is especially true for upscale luxury travel.
As always, I wish you all the happiest of travels.
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