cheap airfare pointers?

Hey - it's me - the hick with absolutely NO travel savvy! Can anyone out there in AL land give me some tips for finding the cheapest flights.

How far in advance do I need to book for the best price?
Can I leave my return trip open as long as it is over a month?

etc
etc.

TIA

I want to go to Bradenton/Sarasota in Mid May from Erie Pa.

Try Hotwire.com :)

i think hotwire doesn't let you pick your flight times, you buy them and then you are assigned times. that's fine if you don't care about times, you can get a good deal. i just bought tickets through orbitz, and have also looked at travelocity and expedia. i don't know about leaving the return date open. when i was choosing dates, it seemed that the prices changed around the three week mark.

where are you heading? :)

thanks tyg and calybo - I am going to Bradenton Fl. from Erie Pa.

Caly,

I think you are right about that regarding hotwire. I notice that you get whatever available flight and also flight time and may include "red eye".

You are going to get the best fares by buying at least 21 days out and staying over a Saturday night. Looks like you are doing both of those, but if you buy an open-ended ticket it is going to cost you more because in essence you will be buying two one-way tickets. Also, even tho I check fares regularly on the net, I always call the airline when I am ready to book, because many times I have gotten a much better fare on the phone than what is shown on the website.

Keep in mind that most of the websites like cheapfares.com, bestfares.com, priceline.com, etc. you have to be very flexible on the dates and times you travel. Since I am usually rigid as to when I want to go, I do avoid those sites. And a lot of the other websites, charge a handling fee of $5 to $10 over the price you could have gotten the ticket direct from the airline. You almost have to check fares every day and compare.

Abby, I don't know how far you are from New York, but Jet Blue is flying from several airports in New York to several airports in Florida from as low as $165 round trip. They don't fly out of DFW yet, but I have inquired as to when they may be doing that and they have told me they are expanding little by little. Actually, they are doing what Legend tried to do and so far have been successful.

i see absolutely no rhyme or reason to the pricing of airlines. supposedly the rates change tuesday or wednesday evening.. damned if i know their game.
i happened to be watching flights to amsterdam, running at $700 plus for when i wanted to go... was always keeping an eye on it, expedia had a special rate at $480. booked it through my agent, price was gone the next day.
travelocity is good to use as they have a "chart" if your days are flexible to travel, and will show who may be running a "special". my particular flight for May was never offered there though

Abby - - - The best price I see out there right now direct with the airlines from Erie to Sarasota is $235 with Delta.

And Christina . . . there is no rhyme or reason to their pricing . . . every seat on the plane has a different price!!! And sometimes there are hundreds of dollars differences between the seat you are sitting in and the person sitting next to you!! Go figure :confused:

When I went to St. Petersburg last June, I watched the comparative fares on Travelocity, then picked a Continental fare and bought it through the Continental website. Travelocity has a service called "Fare Watcher". You can choose your cities and will get an email alert from them when fares drop below the amount you plug in. Right now, my Fare Watcher tells me that the price from here to Tampa is only $195! I wish that I could afford to go. I would get my ticket right now.

Abby, I don't know if Southwest airlines flies from where you live to Fl, but they have always been the cheapest that I have been able to find in the past travelling down south.

I always keep track of travel deals with yahootravel....I currently show an airfare from Allentown PA to Sarasota for 180.95 roundtrip on Northwest and Delta Airlines good for travel through June.

Travel between Pittsburg and Sarasota for 190.29 roundtrip through June on Delta Airlines

otherwise, I also show Philadelphia to Sarasota through June for 194.54 round trip on Delta and Northwest as well.

This is one of the best websites I've found when comparing various airfare prices:

www.itasoftware.com

I have always found what I am looking for there...much better than all the other sites I have used...I highly recommend it.

Good Luck!

Abbey, pm me ... I travel from Florida to both DC and CT pretty regularly. I will tell you what I know ...

dy :)

Abby,

I heard that Jet Blue has great fares. I am not sure if they have a hub there in the mid west. If you do, please check it out.

Thank you everyone! I appreciate it and will let you know what I got as soon as I get it!

Hey Kathy

ITA is certainly comprehensive and easy. Thanks for the pointer!

Hey Bubbleee,

Glad you like the site. It is one of my favorite sites for comparison shopping.

If I happen to come up with any additional helpful travel sites I will make sure I post them for everyone.

Kathy

www.itasoftware.com (http://www.itasoftware.com)