StPeteMark
02-17-2007, 03:50 AM
I'm still trying to figure out supply/demand, fares, and fare sales.
We like flying SWA, but found their fares to our regular destination, PHX, for April and May are higher than normal and typically the three cheapest fares all booked up. Using the best available fares, the cost would be nearly half to double more than what we usually pay. We typically leave late Thursday and return on Sunday. I could be wrong, but it also seems SWA has eliminated some of their daily flights between TPA and PHX; if so, this might add to the higher demand and costs per available flight?
Are April and May prime months for flying? I also noticed that rental car rates were higher for these months vs. other months.
I gave up on booking SWA for April and May because of the high cost, and right now I don't have the luxury of waiting to see if any Ding fares will ever pop up for our schedule. Other things I noticed are that number of Ding fares between these two destinations is less than in the past few months and they rarely extend beyond two or three weeks. They're great if you have unlimited flexibility.
I used sidestep.com to see which airlines had the best buys...Northwest and Delta were the main two. Their current "sale" costs were close for our flying dates, but Delta had a better schedule for us. I went with Delta since we also have FF accounts with them. The bottom is that we saved nearly $600 between the two flights I booked with Delta.
I could have saved more but the fare changed while I was completing my first online booking. Grrrr! I called Delta customer service today to discuss; all the man (somewhere in the far east) could say is that fares change everyday...sorry! Looks like it's the Luck of the Draw!?
Oh, then he wanted to know if he could rent a car for me! :shocked: OK, now the "sorry" is out of the way, can we take some more money out of your pocket? :shakehead
.
We like flying SWA, but found their fares to our regular destination, PHX, for April and May are higher than normal and typically the three cheapest fares all booked up. Using the best available fares, the cost would be nearly half to double more than what we usually pay. We typically leave late Thursday and return on Sunday. I could be wrong, but it also seems SWA has eliminated some of their daily flights between TPA and PHX; if so, this might add to the higher demand and costs per available flight?
Are April and May prime months for flying? I also noticed that rental car rates were higher for these months vs. other months.
I gave up on booking SWA for April and May because of the high cost, and right now I don't have the luxury of waiting to see if any Ding fares will ever pop up for our schedule. Other things I noticed are that number of Ding fares between these two destinations is less than in the past few months and they rarely extend beyond two or three weeks. They're great if you have unlimited flexibility.
I used sidestep.com to see which airlines had the best buys...Northwest and Delta were the main two. Their current "sale" costs were close for our flying dates, but Delta had a better schedule for us. I went with Delta since we also have FF accounts with them. The bottom is that we saved nearly $600 between the two flights I booked with Delta.
I could have saved more but the fare changed while I was completing my first online booking. Grrrr! I called Delta customer service today to discuss; all the man (somewhere in the far east) could say is that fares change everyday...sorry! Looks like it's the Luck of the Draw!?
Oh, then he wanted to know if he could rent a car for me! :shocked: OK, now the "sorry" is out of the way, can we take some more money out of your pocket? :shakehead
.