To buy airfare right now or hold off?

[Dizney73]

Our family of 4 is booked on the NCL cruise for early July and is planning to spend 6 nights on Oahu prior to our cruise. We currently have 6 nights of hotel reservations at Waikiki and Aulani paying cash (we would love to switch our cash Aulani reservation to use our points at 7 months this November but I like to be prepared). We want to fly direct on the way home in July to the East coast to allow as much time as possible to recover before returning to work (our flight going down does not have the same restrictions). I have been watching the flight I WANT go down in price quite a bit over the last 2 months and it is now at a price I can swallow but Hopper still says to wait! I know it is still early and there is a lot of time to purchase our airfare... but do you all think I should purchase now or wait as Hopper suggests? It is the ONLY nonstop flight home on that day.

 

[abdgeek]

If the flight you want is for the price you want, get it now. There are very few nonstop flights from the east coast to Hawaii. I know Delta only offers one. If you don’t book that one, you have to do 1 or 2 layovers for the same flight. If you are ok with doing layovers for the nonstop flight you want if it is no longer available, wait. If you decide to book the flight now, you can still keep an eye on the price. Check with the airline to see what the change fee is. If the price goes down enough to where the change fee plus the discount is significant enough, you can call the airline and rebook the ticket at the lower price. You don’t get your money back, but you do get a voucher for the difference to use on another flight. The voucher normally has to be used within one year from the date the original ticket was purchased.

 

[jltdone]

Our family of 4 is booked on the NCL cruise for early July and is planning to spend 6 nights on Oahu prior to our cruise. We currently have 6 nights of hotel reservations at Waikiki and Aulani paying cash (we would love to switch our cash Aulani reservation to use our points at 7 months this November but I like to be prepared). We want to fly direct on the way home in July to the East coast to allow as much time as possible to recover before returning to work (our flight going down does not have the same restrictions). I have been watching the flight I WANT go down in price quite a bit over the last 2 months and it is now at a price I can swallow but Hopper still says to wait! I know it is still early and there is a lot of time to purchase our airfare... but do you all think I should purchase now or wait as Hopper suggests? It is the ONLY nonstop flight home on that day.

its always a gamble but this is how I look at it and for upcoming trip I will look at this way as well.
We are a family of 5 travelling I have a number in mind and flight times with flight paths after looking to see what prices are and the second that number in mind comes up or very close to it with the flight times I like I book it right away.
If it goes does yeah ok im like dang I should've waited but if it goes up Im like DANG glad I Booked it.
One time the price dropped by like 20 bucks a person return yeah it is a 100 bucks at the end of the day but I looked at this way after what it cost for the trip a 100 bucks is really not that big of a deal.
No different this time when we go for Dec 2020 as soon as the flights come up I will be looking for flights paths ( nothing direct from where we fly from) that we like I will be booking right away.

 

[jltdone]

One more thing some airlines if the price drops will give you the difference in credit to use on another flight in the next 12 months. So if it is a big number that it went down you would get travel credit and that could make for a quick get-a-way.

 

[CateinPhoenix]

Are you able to check to see how many seats are still available? In my experience, it will continue to drop until closer to over 50% full....

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

July is a long way off...so it's likely at some point flight prices will drop. I think if you shared the current price and days of the week you are flying it will be easier to give a more informed decision. If your flight home is on a Saturday night it will likely be more expensive than say a Wednesday.

 

[pjacobi]

Airline prices will probably stay elevated until 737 Max are flying again. United and Southwest were especially hard hit by the grounding. When the 737 Max are flying again, all airline prices will come down due to increased supply of seats.

I'd wait until the 737 Max are flying again or until 90 days before your trip.


-Paul

 

[Dizney73]

Are you able to check to see how many seats are still available? In my experience, it will continue to drop until closer to over 50% full....

Not many seats booked... maybe 12?
Thanks ... that's not something I thought of... I am used to booking Jet Blue on day 1 to MCO!

 

[Dizney73]

its always a gamble but this is how I look at it and for upcoming trip I will look at this way as well.
We are a family of 5 travelling I have a number in mind and flight times with flight paths after looking to see what prices are and the second that number in mind comes up or very close to it with the flight times I like I book it right away.
If it goes does yeah ok im like dang I should've waited but if it goes up Im like DANG glad I Booked it.
One time the price dropped by like 20 bucks a person return yeah it is a 100 bucks at the end of the day but I looked at this way after what it cost for the trip a 100 bucks is really not that big of a deal.
No different this time when we go for Dec 2020 as soon as the flights come up I will be looking for flights paths ( nothing direct from where we fly from) that we like I will be booking right away.

That's exactly how I feel! Honestly, I feel like I would have already booked the flight but Hopper (which I have never used before but saw people rave about) says the price will drop another $136 pp over the next 10 months! I know that I am not patient enough to wait that long! But my luck... I'll buy today and then it will go down next tomorrow!

 

[Dizney73]

July is a long way off...so it's likely at some point flight prices will drop. I think if you shared the current price and days of the week you are flying it will be easier to give a more informed decision. If your flight home is on a Saturday night it will likely be more expensive than say a Wednesday.

The direct flight )one way) from HNL to EWR is down to $669 economy on United. The flight is on a Saturday after we debark the cruise! My husband is taking his vacation and all of his personal days for this trip so there is no wiggle room. This IS the flight we want!

 

[Dizney73]

Does United Airlines do the credit if the price drops?

 

[dachsie]

So I fretted about tickets for several months and finally booked them at 5 months out. Well I am 3 months out now and they are way lower than when I got them. But I totally get the anxiety you have. If you can wait, you might get better pricing

 

[Kauai4life]

The direct flight )one way) from HNL to EWR is down to $669 economy on United. The flight is on a Saturday after we debark the cruise! My husband is taking his vacation and all of his personal days for this trip so there is no wiggle room. This IS the flight we want!

That seems like a really good price. I would book it now.

 

[jltdone]

So I fretted about tickets for several months and finally booked them at 5 months out. Well I am 3 months out now and they are way lower than when I got them. But I totally get the anxiety you have. If you can wait, you might get better pricing

call the airline that you booked with they might give you a travel voucher for the price differnce to use with in 12 months.

 

[Dizney73]

So I fretted about tickets for several months and finally booked them at 5 months out. Well I am 3 months out now and they are way lower than when I got them. But I totally get the anxiety you have. If you can wait, you might get better pricing

That's exactly what I worry about! I am literally putting my trust in an app! Hope says that the price will go up and down over the next 10 months and go as low as $537!!!

 

[eMoneyBug]

I've never known the Airfare Price strategy on best time to book, other than flying on Sunday-Wed seems to be less $. We probably are going to Aulani end of July/beginning of Aug and was thinking of booking flights in late Dec/early Jan.

 

[Dizney73]

The airline website says only 6 tickets left at $674... ahhhhhhh. But Hopper still says to wait! I hate this price gambling game!

 

[jltdone]

The airline website says only 6 tickets left at $674... ahhhhhhh. But Hopper still says to wait! I hate this price gambling game!

i am following this and hope it works out well for you.
Our flights are not up yet but we are booking our 5 flights with visa points. So this time I wont be watching to much.