Is it best to book a flight asap or wait til two weeks in advance when it comes to price?
I want the cheapest price possible and I hear 2 weeks before is a good bet. I'm going to Los Angeles from Memphis.
Air Travel - 4 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
it's best when you book Always
2 :
The longer in advance you buy the cheaper it becomes. For instance, (in AUD) I traveled from Sydney to Perth, booked at last minute with Qantas for $200 return. In the same instance, 4 weeks prior to traveling, I only paid $180 return. It pays off to book beforehand by as long as possible!
3 :
Sooner is almost always better.
4 :
Los Angeles, CA (LAX) to Memphis, TN (MEM) well here is a price quote for a flight 2 weeks from today http://farecast.live.com/flightSearch.do?t=r&vo1=Los+Angeles%2C+CA+%28LAX%29+-+Los+Angeles+International+Airport&o=LAX&ve1=Memphis%2C+TN+%28MEM%29+-+Memphis+International+Airport&e=MEM&d1=03%2F04%2F2009&r1=03%2F18%2F2009&p=1&b=COACH and here is a quote 6 months from now http://farecast.live.com/flightSearch.do?t=r&vo1=Los+Angeles%2C+CA+%28LAX%29+-+Los+Angeles+International+Airport&o=LAX&ve1=Memphis%2C+TN+%28MEM%29+-+Memphis+International+Airport&e=MEM&d1=08%2F19%2F2009&r1=09%2F09%2F2009&p=1&b=COACH looks like you would save $150.00 in this example if you wait until 2 weeks before but remember its a gamble and you have to be flexible on times and non stop vs 1 stop I prefer to spend about $100.00 more round trip for non stop on cross country flights its worth it to me. if you do a non stop then from your house to your final destination (hotel, friends home, whereever) is about 8 to 9 hrs travel time. Most people don't remember that you have to be at the airport one to one and half hours before your flight takes off. then cross country flights are 5-6 hrs non stop. then get from the airport to where you are going in MEM is about hour. It adds up quick. now if you throw in a layover in some other state thats a leeast 2 hours more of travel time. You pay $100 or less to get rid of 2hr layover out and back you just saved 4 hours of your life traveling and you can do something else with the time. Like eating something other than airport food. So anyways the website i use has price pretiction software give you an educated guess if the fare is going to go up or down in the next seven days. I booked a trip to Cabo San Lucas using this website last month and I had been watch the fares for 6 mos they started at 550.00 round trip and last month I found a fare for 251.00 I saved 300.00 bucks times 2 people 600.00 total savings. So put in your travel dates and register on the website an they will e mail you the price update everyday. Another website if you have flexible travel dates is www.hotwire.com you can do a flexible date search and it will show you the cheapest days to travel and the dates. they dont show you the airlines or the flight itiniery until you buy the tickets so that kinda stinks Good luck
