How do I know when to buy tickets?
 

Want to go CMH-DEN over Memorial Day weekend. Would prefer to leave Thurs p.m. or Fri a.m. and return Mon in late p.m. I have been watching the airfare on Kayak from mid Jan on. Should have bought mid Jan when ticket was $304. Has been $384 for the last 10 days or so. Keep hoping for a fare sale on Frontier, the primary carrier. What to do? I don't want to pay $384, it's 3 months away, a holiday weekend. Should I just suck it up or do you think the price will come down? Thanks!

www.farecompare.com

www.kayak.com/buzz

2 beast sites for me to monitor

Tues PM best day to book when all carriers drop prices

to match each others sales.

www.southwest.com web deals currently from $139 each way

might grab one of those B4 they get away

you are trying to book the busiest spring week.

If there is a fare sale coming up, it's probably not going to include Memorial Day weekend.

There's never any good answer to these dilemmas. You buy the ticket when it's at a price you feel comfortable with and you don't look back. :)

No good answers other than to ask yourself - which is going to piss me off more. If I buy a ticket now and price goes down - or if I wait and the price goes up.

Sorry, I don't have good answers either; tough to find good fares in smaller markets for Memorial Day weekend. In my area we're stuck with AA and Delta (another small airport) and if we get lucky, one of them will have a sale and the other will follow. Over the last year I've been watching fares to and from VA and they've been all over the place.

Look at what's happening with oil prices right now ... seems like slim chances that airfares are going to be going down anytime soon.

From 15+years in travel industry I can tell that there is 50/50% chance. The lower fare might stil be introduced, but this usually happen very close to the flight date. if you wait close to the flight, you might not get seats at all.
Did you check other travel agencies. A lot of online travel agencies have lower prices than airline websites (because of the special agreements)
$360 total round trip is the lowest I currently see. Let me know if you want details on this.

I went ahead and bought my plane ticket on Wed. My rationale was the rise in my area of gasoline prices $.30/galllon overnight due to the situation in Libya and the Middle East. For a holiday weekend, I don't think it will get cheaper. Oh well, maybe I am wrong, but I like my strategy. Time will tell.

I think you did the right thing, aliska.

Now, don't keep looking. You'll only torture yourself if you find a lower price. You have the ticket, and it's not such a terrible price. Don't look back. :)

"No good answers other than to ask yourself - which is going to piss me off more. If I buy a ticket now and price goes down - or if I wait and the price goes up." Excellent strategy.

Like Jeff, after buying the ticket I never recheck the fare. After the decision is made, I move on to other travel needs instead of "woulda, shoulda, coulda." Besides, I must have been at lease reasonably happy with the price or I would not have made the purchase.

Agree there's no definitive answer - it's like asking: "when should I buy stocks?"