Should I buy October tickets now?
 

I am flying from Denver to Berlin, Germany on October 22 and back from Brussels, Belgium to Denver, CO on November 8,05.

I have this $500 UA canceled ticket that I have to use with UA directly only or save it for another trip. I have checked UA and my route would cost about $1,200.- . When I check with Priceline the tickets are only about 825 on Continental airlines.

I need help and advice on this from our gurus. I'll appreciate all responses.

Should I go ahead and buy it from UA at a higer price now or wait and see if the price will go down after the summer?

Or should I buy a cheaper fare and save this canceled ticket for another trip? But I'm afraid that if the airline goes under I'll lose my $500. Is there a possibility?

Prices will go down. Just wait. You shouldn't have trouble with those dates.

BTW, UA's price right now for your trip is $971, not $1,200. But I'd still wait.

Hope this is not an idiot question. But how long should I wait? What should be a good price?

By the way, is it me or UA doesn't want me to check? It's been giving me nonqualifying flights message. I cleared the cookies and still get this.

Around late summer - late August, start of September - you'll see various fare sale. And even if there's no specific sales, you'll see the cheaper fares being released by the airline onto their reservation system. You should find a fare about $700 or lower for that time.

I have no problem getting the fare of $971 on United.com, after punching in your exact dates and destination using the "Multi-city" search. 10/22 DEN-TXL, ground transportation TXL-BRU, then 11/8 BRU-DEN. Can't tell you what you're doing wrong.

rkkwan, I think that where I did wrong. I didn't put ground transportation TXL - BRU. (although it worked before) I'll try again.

As for waiting until late September I think is a good idea. Do you think oil price will make it higher than over 700?

Oil prices only constitute a minor factor in ticket prices. Airlines may be raising all base fares by $5-10, but that's it.

Ticket prices is mainly determined by inventory. There are many many fare classes on each flight, and the airline will not release the low fare class this far out.

For example, the $971 fare is "V" class I believe; but if you want to go to Europe in the next few weeks, you can get "S" class fares on united.com for about $650. Late October isn't high season, so you'll find such fares later on, but not right now.

Hi rkkwan,
I have another favor to ask from you. I'm thinking about going to NY (new jersy) on May 27 (late evening) or May 28 am and back may 30 pm. I looked at Hotwire they have clearance sale for $233. Is that a good price? However, it doesn't tell about airlines or the departure times.

Sorry, didn't finish my questions. Are there certain days of the week or month that are cheaper than the others?
Thank you very much!

You can do your own search on beta.itasoftware.com.

Jetblue and Frontier have non-stops to JFK and LGA respectively. $246 for the dates you want, and you pick the flights you want. No need to use Hotwire.

Then book the flights on those airlines' own websites.

rkkwan,
Thanks for the advice and the website. I'm trying it right now.

And you helped me a lot with Germany trip. Thank you! I'll wait until late August to buy the tickets