sandy_b

I need to buy two tickets to Santa Barbara in late July from Dallas-Ft. Worth. The fares I am seeing are close to $600 each. Can someone check their crystal ball or give me their best guess with whether or not to buy now?

I know fares have been going up but this seems awfully high to me. Is there a magic date when summer fares go down? How long can I wait and see?

Thanks in advance,
Sandy (in Denton)

newtome

Santa Barbara is a very small airport so I would guess prices will not go down..not much competition...

Dukey1

I really think you need to go to a site like Kayak.com and look at the month-long price view.

Do you honestly think anybody knows when and if fares are going to fall? The only reason they might go down is if the particular flight isn't selling as well as the airline prefers and nobody knows that but the airline.

If I were you i would buy the tickets as soon as you can because my crystal ball says those fares are going to keep going UP.

Dukey1

Go to Kayak NOW!! I just found a fare to SBA for less than $300 from DFW for late July

HappyTrvlr

We fly to SB often and that one Dukey1 found is great fare!
Often, we just fly Southwest to LAX and drive up.

clarkgriswold

I dunno what you're looking at,sandy, all through July and August I don't see many dates over $356.

July 30 one-way on United is $138.
Coming back on American a week later, one-way again is $138.

sandy_b

I just checked again . . . dates are July 26-29, nothing under high $400 and bad flight times, better flight times are much higher. I'm checking Kayak, Orbitz, AA, DL, UA, Frontier, Southwest. What are y'all checking. I'm hopeless (and I thought I was good)!

Thanks . . . I knew you would know.
Sandy (in Denton)

tomfuller

Would you consider flying to LAX and then taking an Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train right to Santa Barbara? The SBA station is right at the foot of State Street. The airport is a few miles away in Goleta.

sandy_b

One of the travelers uses a walker and is not in good health. Their destination is actually Lompoc and Santa Barbara is as far away as I want. Flying into Lompoc is a lot more expensive than Santa Barbara.

I have never heard of shamatravel and prefer to stick with something well known.

I'll keep looking for a little while longer.

Thanks,
Sandy (in Denton)

clarkgriswold

I would purchase now and not expect the fare to go down. Since you are set on Friday and Monday, and select flight times, not much chance of a lower fare, those are used to entice people to be more flexible. If you return a day later, Tues is usually cheaper than Mon, but then maybe the hotel cost would offset the savings.

Flying into Santa Barbara you must change planes somewhere, endure a 1 hour layover, then if the flight is on time, rent a car in Santa Barbara and drive a half hour. It seems that a nonstop into Los Angeles followed by the two hour, 10 minute drive might work out as a $300 savings with the same arrival time. Huge pick of decent flight times into LAX, choose something that doesn't put you into after-3pm traffic heading north and you're set.

Here's a quick comparison:

10am nonstop Dallas to Los Angeles, then a nice drive with a lunch break in seaside Summerland puts you into Lompoc around 3:30pm .

Closest service into SBA leaves Dallas 10:15am and you're in Lompoc around 3:15pm with an airport food-court lunch, possible missed connection and all that.

Returning if you depart Lompoc at 9am, leave SB on the 11:40am flight,take 2 planes, you're in Dallas at 9:45pm. Driving to Los Angeles you could leave Lompoc a half hour later, stop for an hourlong seaside breakfast, take a nonstop at 3:30pm that puts you into Dallas an hour earlier at 8:45pm...and with a couple hundred dollars more in your pocket.

tomfuller

Would this shuttle service be of help to you ?
http://www.rrshuttle.com/ext/Califor...t_shuttle.html

clarkgriswold

tom....not unless she wants to pay a lot more than flying or renting a car would cost!

sandy_b

Clarkg, you make a very compelling argument. I'll check into LAX. I thought LAX was 153 mi away and to me, that seems like 3.5 hrs of driving time. If it is shorter, it might be a good solution.

Thank you!
Sandy (in Denton)

clarkgriswold

Google has it at 2hrs 45 mins so allow 3 as long as you don't travel after 3pm. Santa Barbara airport is listed as almost an hour from Lompoc downtown so flying into LAX is 100 minutes longer. Since that's about the same time as a layover at LAX and your 2nd flight will take...it probably comes down to how much of a savings it is to just use LAX.

The drive is very nice however with parts of it hugging the ocean. You could take it as slowly as you like,
with stops in Malibu or Ventura or Santa Barbara on the way. It depends on how much you enjoy leisurely driving I guess.

I'll add that one-way car rentals pick up LAX but drop off SBA are very cheap since it's a weekend, so you could get a taste of having it both ways. Check the fare to fly into LAX and drive to Lompoc, but with a return flight schedule from Santa Barbara airport.

clarkgriswold

Here's an example of that last-mentioned idea:

Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to Los Angeles (LAX) - Fri, Jul 26
American Airlines Inc. 2423 Dep: 10:30AM Arr: 11:40AM

Santa Barbara (SBA) to Los Angeles (LAX) - Mon, Jul 29
American Airlines Inc. 2643 Dep: 1:35PM Arr: 2:25PM 0h 50m Canadair Reg. Jet Economy (N) 2 hour layover
Los Angeles (LAX) to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) - Mon, Jul 29
American Airlines Inc. 2460 Dep: 4:30PM Arr: 9:40PM


Cost per passenger (including taxes & fees) $370.70

Alamo Car Rental $26 per day, $106 grand total, free upgrade to midsize on "search deals" link via Alamo website. Pick up LAX return SBA

sandy_b

Again, thanks clarkg . . . going to AA and try to book right now!

Sandy (in Denton)

clarkgriswold

Egads it looks like only 1 seat was left at that $370 fare. To get it you would have to book just one seat, and then log in and book the 2nd seat separately (showing as $426 today).

If you tried to book two seats the system might have only brought up the higher fare, because 2 were not available at the lower price.

nonrefundable tix are changeable as long as you do it within 24 hours of booking. I'd call AA and try to save $50 on that first ticket, or cancel and book separately to save 50 bucks.

sandy_b

I ended up buying from Southwest for $350/ea . . . DFW-LAX/return. They had the best flight times. Thanks for suggesting LAX, I did not consider it because I thought it was too long a drive . . . but the flights I got are perfect, arrive @ 10:20 a.m. so have the rest of the day to get to Lompoc. Return is at 1:00 p.m. so have all morning to get back to LAX . . . perfect!

Thank you, thank you!
Sandy (in Denton)