Should I wait on Chicago airefare?
 

My husband, teenage son and I are going to Chicago in November. This is a set itinerary, and cannot be changed. Arrive Nov.18th (fri) and leave Sun Nov. 20th. I have search for a couple of weeks on various websites; sidestep, travelocity, etc. and I can't find fare much cheaper than $248.rt.

In your experiences, are there many deals leading up to Thanksgiving? Should I grab this fare? I looked at special ORD rates and none of them apply for the day we need to leave. Thanks for any help you can give.

Where are you flying from? Have you looked at also flying into Midway as an option?

I was just going to post a similar answer. Look into Midway fares if they fly directly to that airport from your location.

I do not think I would wait at all.

sorry, from DFW

when I did the searches, I had them check surrounding airports as well.

Book NOW! I can't stress this more.

Sunday November 20th is part of peak travel Thanksgiving dates for the airline and the closer to the date, the more the price will rise.

Expect flights to sell out.

sandi...Looks like AA, DFW to Midway or ORD is about $228.00 pp.There is a lower fare but it is valid only Tue/Wed/Sat but that weekend just happens to be blacked out anyway.Good Luck!

If Austin is an option for you (not sure exactly where you're located), then you could fly Southwest for $197 per person (taxes included) on those dates. Otherwise, I'd agree - book now. That price doesn't seem too bad for a flight like that. You could also check hotwire, but for such a short trip it might not be worth the possibility of bad flight times.

That's a good price from Dallas. For some reason direct flights from Midway to DFW are hard to come by...

beachBoi, I assume that was before taxes and fees?

Hi sandi,
the CHI-DFW route is the one route that is almost impossible to get a good deal on. I live in chi and travl to dallas 3 - 4 times a year and have never found a rate less than 200 in the last 2.5 years.

AA and UA are generally the best deals from DFW - the pricing doesn't vary that much anyway, but schedule does. A couple of AA flights from DFW do fly into Midway, but they aren't particularly cheaper.

Unfortunately Southwest does not fly DFW-MDW.

Grab those seats! Booking less than six weeks out will cost you a fortune! Fares, nowadays, are far more likely to go up than down between now and your departure date.

If you're thinking that you will be able to grab "as low as" fares, they are surely not likely to be available for your dates.

$228.40 ALL IN on AA or $685.20 for all three.

Leave around 9am non-stop 11/18

Return around 3:30pm non-stop 11/20

I'm searching DFW to MDW on those dates and find nothing but $248.

Frequentflyer, are you still seeing the rate you quoted me?

Sandi......The $228.40 was with all taxes.Sadly, it is up to $266 today....I urge you to book now...Overnight, AA has put several flights between DFW and Midway airport into regional jets, American Eagle service.Fewer seats, fewer CHEAP seats.Good Luck!......Stephen

I'm not advocating that you do this, but fares ALWAYS go up over the weekend. I've seen this numerous times.

If you are willing to gamble just a bit, wait till Tuesday.

I'm usually opposed to the "waiting game", but in this case, I'm willing to bet a cocktail....:-)

Just remember, it's your gamble, not mine......

If you feel comfortable with the $268 fare, go ahead and book it.

Just FYI.. I bought the tickets in ORD for the flight times I wanted and with the 5% discount coupon from AA's website I got them for $235. each.

Now, on to my son's 1st college interview!

Someone has probably already asked you this, but did you try southwest? I just flew roundtrip from KC to Chicago for $138.

The OP wants to fly from/to Dallas, in which case Southwest is not a good option. Soutwest is prohibited by law from selling a ticket from Dallas to anywhere except to cities in states that border Texas. What that means is that the OP would have to buy 2 separate tickets, 1 from Dallas to let's say Oklahoma City and then from Oklahoma City to Chicago. Usually not a cost effective option.
Southwest flies out of Dallas Love field, that's why the restriction. If they moved to DFW, they would not be restricted by the above law.

What's an OP?

Original Poster- yourself this thread, sandi travelnut.