Airfare Tips...

[Fingolfin269]

I want to go to Washington D.C. in September. I have a friend who lives there and the Yankees are at Baltimore the weekend of Sept. 10, 11, 12th so I figured I would go some time around then.

I've always been told that the earlier you book the better off your fare will be. Do any of you have any further advice? I want to get the best deal possible and I only know of a few web services that assist in booking airfare.

Thanks.

 

[kami333]

Avoid travelling on a weekend.

 

Stay over a Saturday...if you fly in before Sat. and leave after Sat. your flight will be measurably cheaper.

 

[Lola]

i have found the best rates for tickets that the flight leaves on a Mon or Tues!

 

[aphex]

Use orbitz.com, expedia.com, and travelocity.com to get an idea of what airlines are flying at the times you want. Then use those times at the airlines own website to typically get the cheapest price on tickets....

 

[Fingolfin269]

Well, I'm trying to leave on a Thursday night and fly back anytime on Monday. I hope those days are somewhat inexpensive. And, more than likely, I'm stuck with only flying US Air.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Determine what airlines leave from your local airport(s).
Some of the airlines may not be listed on the major travel sites (SouthWest for example)
For those you will need to go to the airline web site to determine schedules.

With respect to DC, you have BWI (usually the chapest), National and Dulles.

Dulles will require special transportation (out in the boonies).

National has Mass Transit available, You can get a train from BWI to the DC area.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Okay, I'll check prices on BWI just to see how much of a difference I'm looking at. Right now I'm seeing the price at ~$240 round trip from Tennessee to DC and that doesn't seem to bad to me (price is for Dulles).

 

[bunker]

Go to travelocity and sign up for their Fare Watcher alerts. You'll get emails when the price drops/rises which is great.

Also, buying early is not necessarily the best way to go. You never know when the airlines may have a sale.
If there's another major airport within about a 2 hour drive, you can always look there too. I'm in Atlanta and have flown out of Birmingham for an incredibly cheap ticket.