I was hoping to plan a trip PHL- SF for June, but the fares seem sky-high to me. (I'm not a frequent flyer-- maybe that's the way they always are?) Fares are around $650 per person (and only USAirways has a non-stop). I'm hoping that those of you who fly frequently can advise me whether fares are likely to go down between now and then, i.e. should I wait a few months and check again? Problem is, there's only one decent non-stop and I'm afraid if I wait too long, the fares will actually increase. Any advice greatly
appreciated.

It is too early to book fares at those prices. They will come down. Are you also checking Oakland? It is just across the bridge.

I saw a ticket for West Palm Beach to SFO in February for $258.00 round trip.

Airlines usually don't release cheap fares this early. Wait until Jan or Feb and check then. $300-350 will be a fair price.

Also, Continental flies non-stop from EWR to SFO. And Southwest have one-stop, same-aircraft flights PHL-OAK (via PHX or LAS, I believe).

Thanks very much for these prompt replies. My husband is disabled to a degree (and we're both oldsters), so it's impt to us to have a non-stop. We live abt 2 hrs from the Phila (or Balt) airport, so flight can't be too early in the morning or we'd have to get going in the wee hours. If I checked properly, there's really only one convenient non-stop flight; that's why I fear waiting too long. On the other hand, the fare as it is now is prohibitively high. In short, a real quandary.

Don't worry. Fares will come down, and they're not going to fill up that flight by January or February.

If you're 2 hours from PHL or BWI, I wonder if it's better for you to fly out of Harrisburg, even if it means a connection.

poss - I agree with the comments you've gotten. The problem is US has no competition on PHL - SFO nonstop route, so it's less likely you'll find a great airfare. But as mentioned I'd try in a couple of months.

With your situation, I wouldn't rule out direct flights (have one or more stops but NO change of planes). For ex., SW has quite a few direct flights during different times of the day from BWI to SFO, SJC, or OAK - and they usually offer better fares.

South west has promo fares.
Start watching them right now in march is 168RT Phil to Oakland. You can check them weekly until they are into June then hop on the promo fare.
If you choose SW you will want to pay the $5.00 to board first so you can get a decent seat (A boarding) but also check and see if the flight you choose has that option some SW flights now have assigned seats.

SW has no assigned seats and they don't charge people $5 to board first. It is not like Ryanair or Skybus or whatever.

Instead, boarding sequence is based on check-in time. If you go online and check-in at exactly 24 hours before departure, you'll get a low-number boarding pass to get a good seat. There are also 3rd party services that charge $5 to do that for you if you or someone you know can't do it at that time.

If you have some kind of disability, you can also preboard before anybody else, regardless of your boarding pass number.

Just found a cheap airfare PHL- SFO@ $224.99 (incl taxes) departing on 5 June 2008!

I certainly appreciate all the responses and am paying real attention to each one.
Earthhopper: What airline has those prices, pray tell? And is the flight non-stop??

Oops..sorry, I didn't mention the site. It was a Frontier Airlines flight at Cheapoair.

Departs PHL on June 5th at 5:30 pm and arrives SFO via Denver at 11:20 pm.

Will let you know if I come across a better fare.

USAirways non-stop is now down to $489. I guess I'll hold off for a while longer and hope the fare drops another $100.

That's awesome!! Keep us posted