Could use some airline "know-it-alls" to help predict fares
 

We are planning a trip out to Yellowstone NP for this Sept. What I'd like is some help with is predicting the fares for this year. I know if any of us could do this perfectly we'd be rich, but I guess I'm looking for an educated guess or anyone that may actually work in the industry and would have any tips to share.

We are flying from Charlotte, NC (CLT) and hope to fly into Jackson, WY (JAC). Currently hoping to travel Saturday the 5th till Sunday the 13th of Sept.

I best fare I see at the moment is $468. Is there any chance of getting a flight into JAC for under $300? Or am I dreaming?

Thanks for the help!

Dave

It won't hurt to wait a bit but overall I think you are dreaming....

I doubt very much a fare from CLT to JAC would go under $300 total....

CLT is a good size airport, but still not the super center for flights, and then JAC is nothing close to it. Served by few airlines, with very few flights, so it's kind of a monopoly......

We found flying into JAC ridiculously expensive - and that was from Boston. We investigated alternate airports - Bozeman, Idaho Falls - and even considered Salt Lake City. In the end we just paid - it was worth it.

I agree - JAC is a very small airport and has effectively a captive audience. As mentioned you might try SLC, but then you've got the drive to deal with.

If oil prices and the markets remain down, you may find some better deals, especially since you are flying after the end summer vacation season. As others have said, Jackson prices never come down that much. It's a small market. We flew through SLC from ATL a couple of years ago to reduce the price a bit. Look at Bozeman, Butte, West Yellowstone, and Idaho Falls to see if you can find a better deal.

Dave,
Check farecast.com , kayak.com , or sidestep.com . I checked farecast for you and found the same price you did (they even checked Greenville, SC, Idaho Falls, ID, and West Yellowstone, MT airports). Sidestep shows the same price btw your two airports for the last 90 days.
You could consider flying from CLT to, say, Salt Lake CIty, UT, for $360 R/T with a 4 1/2 hr. drive to Jackson (figure $20 for gas). It may be worth it, depending on how many people are traveling. It may be worth the drive to use the extra money to have a car for the week.
Good luck.

I grew up in Montana. Fares are very expensive.

Now I live in Chicago, and it's often cheaper to fly to Hawaii than Montana.

Jackson Hole will probably be your cheapest option.

Car rentals can also be pricey.

Sometimes you can find cheap flights to Denver and if you can find a special on a flight from there to Jackson Hole perhaps on a different carrier you might be able to cut costs.

No, you're dreaming. Slightly under $400 might be possible, particularly for September, but you need to live in the real world. Airline fares for that route haven't been under $300 (with all the taxes and such) for a few years. I had a particularly cheap ticket from NYC to Tulsa, OK, for Christmas on United ($192 round-trip). But think about how much further Jackson is.

As other posters have said, you can save a lot of money by flying into Denver or even Salt Lake sometimes and then driving. You have to have a car anyway, and if gas stays under $250 a gallon, you might get the costs down to a little more than $300 per person, but I still don't think you're living in reality.

I meant to write "if gas stays under $2.50 a gallon". Duh.

What about LAX to JAC?

Right not, the cheapest I can find (ironically, for the exaxt same time frame as the OP), is 348.00 RT.

Is that a good price?

For that route, I think it's a good price, even from LAX. Airports with limited service simply have higher fares.

You might also consider flying into Billings, MT and entering the park over the very senic Beartooth Hwy car rentals in Billings would be better than Jackson hole.

That info at least helps with the budgeting. Like some of you said we still have time to search, but at least I can account for the cost.

I was hoping for a $300 ticket, but didn't expect one...I can still dream though, can't I?

I'll look into the other towns and see, our trip plan would end us in the Grand Teton's so that's why I'd like to fly out of JAC. We figured if we flew out of SLC we'd have to head that way on Saturday to make any early flights out on Sunday.

Thanks again for the info and feel free to share more if any other ideas come to light.

When we booked 5 tickets for Yellowstone area in 2007 - we got the best price by flying INTO Billings and out of Jackson Hole. And, the car rental was same for one-way also. (Sometimes the one-way rental blows the whole deal.)

Hello SLWR :)

We were in Yellowstone in September of last year.

Our flight was Austin-DFW-JAC round-trip.

I just checked back in my records to see what I paid. It was on American, booked in February, $320 (which included all taxes) per person.

Happy travels!