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Last Minute Flights


sugarbum
By sugarbum,
in

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I'm flying to Tampa from Seattle first week of April and considering I should wait as this is not a peak period. I wonder... is it typical for an airline to drop its price as the flight time approaches and seats remain unsold? Seems logical but I also realize that the cheaper seats sell out first. Both true? Tried Priceline but no deal forthcoming for those dates - same lowest price I find directly on the carrier's site or elsewhere.

Cannot decide if I should wait or not!

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Buying airfare is a bit of a crapshoot, but airline tickets often go against conventional wisdom... walk up to a ticket counter hours before a flight and pay the highest rate; which is the opposite of your scenario above, thinking that they would just want to get some revenue for the seat rather than let it fly empty.

Their point of view is that if you're buying a ticket last minute you likely have a need to get some place and will pay whatever it takes. As well, even if the plane is full, charging $1000 for a last minute ticket still enables them to 'bump' another passenger by supplying them a $300 airfare credit in exchange for giving up their seat and flying on the next flight out... and they still come out ahead of the game.

Best bet for airfare is to observe the route and 'know' what a good rate is for the time of year you're flying... if it comes into that price range take it.

More specifically to bidding on PRICELINE, while you monitor rates for anything comes into the acceptable price point, you can try bidding on PRICELINE at whatever amount of discount you feel is acceptable in exchange for giving up the ability to choose your airline, layover city, length of layover, etc.

Also, you can get an almost unlimited number of re-bids when bidding on airfare as per the methods in this thread: Priceline Airfare Re-Bidding (in particular pay attention to the second post)

If you let us know your maximum bid for a ticket we can suggest a strategy for you to follow.

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

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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  • 1 month later...

...first week of April and considering I should wait as this is not a peak period.

This is Easter vacation for some schools... most (where i live) have off the week before, but i know there are some that have vacation this week instead.

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

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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