Debbielynn

Normally I don't check prices after I've booked, but my SIL pointed out the great airfares to Europe in September. I checked out my trip to Greece starting on August 29th and the new fares are hundreds of dollars less! Am I just out of luck or is there anything I can do? Who knew this would happen- I haven't seen fares this low in many, many years, if ever.

janisj

If after paying the change fees you'd still be money ahead, then go ahead and re-book.

Debbielynn

Thanks, Just called Delta, change fees are higher than difference. Really stinks!

bvlenci

This is why I don't book so far ahead. Airfare sales for autumn usually pop up in late spring or early summer. And those for spring in late autumn or early winter. Six months out, the airlines are hopeful about the prices they've set. If they see that there are lots of empty seats, they get more realistic.

I usually book airfares two to three months ahead, and start watching them about a month before I buy. One exception is flights for Christmas, which I book earlier, but not six months ahead. I start watching prices for high summer flights a bit earlier, also, because they can fill up sometimes. If flights are filling up, the prices rise.

If you see a flight you want, you can pretend to buy a ticket and go as far as choosing a seat. If most of the seats are still available, you can safely wait.

Christina

It can't be that big a difference if it's less than the change fee, which I think is only $200. Fares often are lower in the Fall, though, than in August, it isn't clear to me if the lower fares are different dates or not since you mention September fares.

I don't call a fare that is $200 lower in September than in August to be a drastic cut when it's based on a fare that must be pretty high to begin with, like about $1000. When I checked for my city just now, the fares aren't that different from end of August to mid-September, you can find a cheaper fare in August depending on day of the week. You can find about $800 RT fares in either period from IAD if one is flexible on day of week.

HappyTrvlr

International flight change fees are $400 on most carriers but Delta says up to $500.

joannyc

I checked my fare last week or so, it was $311 cheaper than what I paid. Called Lufthansa, the change fee is $300... So with losing the seat assignment fee and the difference in fare, it didn't work for me to rebook.

Sigh... I should have stuck to my normal timeframe of buying 3 months out but I saw the fare keep going up so when it dropped back to the original fare I saw, I booked.

Debbielynn

I booked my trip in April, which is only about 4.5 months out. Next time I will wait, however, it was the only time I had off so I wanted to make sure and wanted to make all the other arrangements as hotels on Santorini were booking up quickly. Delta wants $350 to rebook each ticket so it doesn't pay. Oh, well.