Can I expect the airfare of this ticket to go back down?
December 20, 2013 9:45 AM Subscribe
I am considering booking a roundtrip ticket from Chicago-Montreal for a certain weekend several months from now. I've been looking up prices for the last week or so, and most google/orbitz searches were consistently around the low $400 mark for a trip with one-stop each way. I checked today and notice that now the fare of the same flights are around $600. Is there any reasonable way of knowing if the price will decrease again in the foreseeable future?
After reading the replies to this question I cleared my browsing history and cookies, but the prices still appear to remain the same. Trip is in early March if that helps.
After reading the replies to this question I cleared my browsing history and cookies, but the prices still appear to remain the same. Trip is in early March if that helps.
Bing's predictor is usually pretty good. In general, the period of time between Jan 15 and Mar 1 is a period of pretty intense price competition between airlines and you often see reduced fares within a few weeks of departure.
posted by Lame_username at 10:09 AM on December 20, 2013
posted by Lame_username at 10:09 AM on December 20, 2013
In my experience, six weeks prior to your trip is the sweet spot for airfares.
That said, March is definitely the low season for travel to Montreal in general (unless there's a big local event on, or something?), so I don't know if you can expect it to go down all that much.
posted by Sara C. at 10:11 AM on December 20, 2013
That said, March is definitely the low season for travel to Montreal in general (unless there's a big local event on, or something?), so I don't know if you can expect it to go down all that much.
posted by Sara C. at 10:11 AM on December 20, 2013
Thirding Bing. Once you do buy the ticket, TripIt will tell you if the fare decreases again and how to get the difference back. Two caveats however: a) this may be a paid-only feature, I'm not sure since I have a paid account; b) you usually have to pay a change fee that cuts into the money you would get back, and that money is typically given as a voucher that has to be used within a year.
posted by karbonokapi at 10:13 AM on December 20, 2013
posted by karbonokapi at 10:13 AM on December 20, 2013
Getting a good price on a flight is often all in the day and time that you go online to book it. Strange but true. So let's say you check the prices on a Saturday. Then you go to book it Monday morning and find the price you saw on Saturday is no longer what it was...it's gone up! Prices can change on a daily basis even hourly. I've heard that the best time to book a flight and get the best prices is mid week late morning in the middle of the day. Of course there's no guarantees but if you have some patience you should be able to find that lower price again. Also...and you probably know this already but just in case...the flight times/days you select also have a huge impact on the price. Sometimes just adjusting the day or times you depart/arrive will have drastic changes in the price of the flight for the better or worse. Hope this helps!
posted by ljs30 at 10:50 AM on December 20, 2013
posted by ljs30 at 10:50 AM on December 20, 2013
Have you been checking prices on the same computer every time? Try clearing out any cookies from whatever website you're price-hunting through. They remember you and prices can be different depending on how many times you've checked on them.
posted by Weeping_angel at 4:31 PM on December 20, 2013
posted by Weeping_angel at 4:31 PM on December 20, 2013
Sorry, should have read the "more inside." Never mind.
posted by Weeping_angel at 4:32 PM on December 20, 2013
posted by Weeping_angel at 4:32 PM on December 20, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ecorrocio at 9:49 AM on December 20, 2013