ORD to LAX 06/20/10 - 06/27/10

[phi208]

Hi everyone, new to the forum but I'm loving it here so far. You all provide great advice and info, and I'm hoping to learn a lot from everyone.

Just wondering, I've been shopping for airfare from ORD to LAX for 06/20/10 - 06/27/10 and have noticed that the prices have jumped up from around $250 to over $400 now. Do you know if this is due to the Memorial Day weekend coming up? Even though my trip is not for Memorial Day, I'm wondering if the holiday is causing all prices to go up....and if I should wait until after the holiday to book my tickets in hopes that the prices will go down.

Any advice or info is greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone!

:)

[thereuare]

It's supply and demand... empty seats vs. time left to sell them.

The Memorial Day weekend wouldn't effect rates for your June trip. Airfare is always a bit of a crapshoot, but my approach is to get a feel for what a 'good' rate for a route would be, then grab it and don't look back if it hits that point.

Generally speaking airfare prices have been strong in most markets as capacity is down due to reduced flight schedules and such, so there are fewer seats on most routes then there were just a few years ago, so not a lot of empty seats, which has kept prices fairly high, imo.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[phi208]

Thanks for the reply thereuare! Man, now I feel foolish for not booking earlier...my knowledge on price trends is not very good. :)

Btw, GO BLUE! :)

[phi208]

Hi all, just wanted you all to know that I tried bidding on priceline for a trip from ORD to LAX for 06/19-06/30. No success

Started bidding at $175, choosing MDW-LAX. Rejected, counter offered for 325 after taxes and fees. ($286 before)

Second bid at $200, choosing ORD, MDW-LAX. Rejected, same counter offer.

Third bid at $200, choosing ORD,MDW-LAX, BUR. Rejected, same counter offer.

Fourth bid at $225, choosing red-eye option on top of all the airports listed above. Rejected, same counter offer.

Fifth bid at $250, choosing ORD-LAX. Rejected, same freakin' counter offer.

I used kayak and saw there were flights going for as low as $300 with 1-stop, and some even non-stop so I'm hesitant to go up any higher as a $260 bid would put me right there. I'd rather book it for $300 and get actual times and dates that I prefer. Hope this helps all of you looking for tix to LAX.

[thereuare]

Did you decide to book direct or are you going to try bidding again?

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[phi208]

I'm probably going to try bidding again, but if all else fails I'm probably going to book direct if the bidding price gets close to the current listed price for airfare.