Buying plane tickets online

[Cumberland]

I have been stalking the net trying to find the cheapest priced ticket I can for an upcoming trip. In the week that I have been checking daily, I have watched the fares go up by a hundred dollars per ticket . The trip is May 11, so it is still kind of far away. I am wondering if I wait a week, will new flights be scheduled, or are the fares just going to keep going up? Any insider info would be great.

This is a risk, but you could subscribe to the email list for the last minute fares from your city and watch that for a week or two.

[SuzySunshine]

There is always that risk but I've been watching fares for the wedding we're going to 4/21 and last week they dropped by more then $100/ticket so we booked them. So that purchase was made about 3 1/2 weeks out, I wouldn't give in yet. Plus if you find it cheap on Orbitz or a site like that always check the airlines site before you purchase, sometime they're a little cheaper.

[Momo]

We go to travelocity & expedia type in all of our info, then wait for their search to show us flights. We then go directly to the airline sight of the cheapest fare the travel sites list, and get it for less. We also always check Southwest first for their on line exclusive deals...the $99 one way flights sometimes are the best we can do. Maybe you have already tried this...if not it can't hurt! Good luck!

we cross posted
Suzysunshine said:

... always check the airlines site before you purchase, sometime they're a little cheaper

.

[Cumberland]

I have been using kayak.com, it compiles a lot of the more common travel sites. I might wait a few more days............

[MissCrabette]

I check sites like travelocity, expedia, orbitz, or sidestep before booking. Once I find a fare I like I go to the particular airline's website to see if I can get a better deal.

I can't tell you if flight prices will go up or down. I just booked a flight last night after it had gone up in price a little bit. Today the price was back down.

[poky]

I've been wondering about this, too; we're likely to be travelling back and forth between PDX and Cleveland, starting in a few months, and being able to get the best deal reasonably regularly (like, every few months) will be key. Exact dates are not likely to be very important.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Cleveland has a Continental hub - I don't know what is at PDX. I'm from Cleveland and dh trained / went to school at CWRU (I assume that's where you're looking). Let me know if you need any info.

I sign up for expedia farewatcher and it will send you emails whenever prices have gone down. I got tix from KC to Anchorage for $277 RT that way.

Poky, I get the United e-fares email. They usually have good last minute fares between Denver and PDX in the fall and winter. I would see if Continental offers to same. Unfortunately, my experience has been with PDX not being a hub for any airline, good prices on direct routes serviced by a single carrier are hard to come by. For example, flights to Minneapolis are freaking expensive because Northwest is the only direct service. If you find some good deals, please report back.

http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/ap ... fault.aspx

[poky]

Cool, thanks! I'll look into farewatcher type things at the big airfare sites.

Unfortunately, Cincinnati is the only Ohio city with nonstop service from PDX, through Delta, and I'm sure that's enough of a drive from Cleveland that I don't want to be flying into there just to avoid changing planes.

Yes, Case is what he's looking at (well, kinda; it's actually CCLCM). Any tips on places to live close to campus would be very helpful at this point, too.

[poky]

cupcake -

Yes, the only thing PDX is a hub for (kinda) is Alaska/Horizon (despite this, I can't get to Anchorage nonstop but once a day, because Seattle is *more* of a hub, and commuter flights go between PDX and SEA every half hour).

I can go to Frankfurt or Maui nonstop, but not Cleveland. *sigh*.

We're accumulating United miles on our credit card because that gets us those flights to Frankfurt (DH's mother is from Germany, so we try to visit friends and relatives every few years), but if another airline had better deals regularly, I'd be happy to start getting miles with them, too.

You might want to check Frontier. I'm not sure if they go to Cleveland but would connect through Denver. United via Denver or Chicago might be good if you can't get a non-stop.

I was spoiled by living in Denver and United and Frontier being based there.

I can go to Frankfurt or Maui nonstop

I know....

But at least it is a small airport and super-quick to get through!

Cinci is 4 hours away from Cleveland. Sometimes you can find reduced fares flying in/out of Akron/Canton, which is about an hour away from Cleveland.

If you send me a PM w/what he's looking for, I can help you out. If it's only going to be him, and he wants to be close to school, Little Italy is a convienent & inexpensive choice (provided he's not an ethnic minority --- sad & inappropriate, but true). Cleveland Heights is v. handy, but I'd rent.

I grew up in Cleveland, and dh & I lived in Cleveland Heights w/in 10 minutes of the hospital for about 8 years.

[poky]

Thanks, cupcake. Hadn't thought about Frontier.

But at least it is a small airport and super-quick to get through!

I *love* PDX. It's small, you can pick whichever security line is shorter (because you can get to any gate from either one), and they don't let any of the shops in the airport charge any more than they charge at outlets outside the airport. Plus free wifi!

Hm..maybe I should look for flights from Seattle, too. I've got friends there, and it's not *that* far...

*sigh*. Why couldn't he have gotten into Stanford? Cheap, quick nonstop flights would sure be nice.

[medpedspouse]

There is always that risk but I've been watching fares for the wedding we're going to 4/21 and last week they dropped by more then $100/ticket so we booked them. So that purchase was made about 3 1/2 weeks out, I wouldn't give in yet. Plus if you find it cheap on Orbitz or a site like that always check the airlines site before you purchase, sometime they're a little cheaper.

I do not know if American Air still does this BUT I once found a fare cheaper on Expedia than on their site (who guarantees the lowest fare) and was given a $50 AA voucher even though Expedia was only a few bucks less.