True, you have to use your best judgment, but that doesn't mean that there's no truth at all in the statistics. If you find a good deal, take it. But if you've still got months to go and you're looking at prices thinking "Hmm, this is $200 more than I've spent before" then there's a substantial chance they'll go down.
I've been using farecast for years, and I'd say they're about 70% accurate. I've saved more than I've gotten screwed, though I have gotten screwed at least once.
Actually, statistics say (and my experience shows) that Saturday, Wedneday, and Tuesday are the cheapest days to fly. Flying out Thursday and back Monday is always going to be one of the more expensive options. So it could just be the days you picked to fly this year are just inherently cheaper.
Well for awhile I wasn't sure whether I'd be coming to Seattle for an extended stay so I checked prices for what I have and the Thursday right before. It was only like $10 more than the Saturday in flying out on. So honestly I'd say the earlier you can get a ticket the better regardless of day.
I'll just give people the data, so they can decide for themselves whether to trust your anecdote or the general research.
US News & World Report - 6 weeks is the best time. Kayak crunched its own numbers and found that 21 days was a sweet spot. Farecompare gives a broader window, 4 months to 3 weeks.
While there's a lot of dispute about when the exact sweet spot is, there's a pretty strong consensus that buying too early is a mistake, and I've never seen any serious advocate arguing for buying non-holiday-peak domestic tickets earlier than 8-10 weeks in advance.
Again, to emphasize, there are individual deals that break this pattern! If you see a good deal, take it! This is just about AVERAGES.
Pretty much all of these sites confirm that Tues, Wed, and Sat are significantly cheaper than the rest of the week, as far as flying goes. (see also Farecompare'sday of the week flight analysis.The "tickets are cheaper on M, Tu, W" wisdom is kind of in dispute, and may only apply for high-traffic, high competition routes.
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I just came back from my first PAX in Boston and it was phenomenal and I'm now thinking about going to Prime next summer. The problem is I'm from Montreal and the plane tickets are crazy expensive (360$ one way expensive). I've been told by many friends that driving to an airport in the US and taking a plane in a small city like Burlington VT could save me around 100$. Does anybody has any other tips to share?
I would also be leaving Seattle on the 2nd to go to Vegas, again, any tips to help me find good rates?
I'd recommend checking the prices from Bellingham. Generally, I use this location when flying throughout the states from Vancouver, because flying out of Vancouver can add hundreds of dollars onto a ticket.
Most of the time, flying out of Seattle would likely be cheaper, but in this case, as it is the end of PAX, and the end of Labor day weekend, you should at the very least give them a look.
This is more of an alert than a formal post. Normally I post up a thread called the International Traveller's Guide to PAX. It has a long list of things who are not US nationals should be wary of. Examples include alcohol restrictions, passports, visas and the alien concept of tipping
This year I shall be making a contribution to the community Wiki page for PAX that will cover these and many other things. Once it has been installed, I shall link to it on this thread and may even make a new one. That may however result in me getting a warning from a mod so I better check with them before I do that.
This contribution should be up over the weekend, so to those of you who are travelling from outside the US, this guide may of use to you. By way of establishing my credentials, this forthcoming PAX Prime will be my 10th travelling from London, UK. So I know a thing or two about being a stranger in a strange land
3-7 weeks before your flight is the best time to book. Usually the best of the best prices are in the 4-6 weeks prior timeframe. Ticket sales get announced by some companies on monday, with some other airlines then matching or competing with those prices on tuesday, and now there are other companies who then try to beat the Tuesday prices on Wednesday... so generally, Tues-Wed are when online prices are the cheapest.
People who buy prior to 6-8 weeks out will often pay 20-30% more than people who wait.
BingTravel (formerly Farecast) is a better tool once you get into the 8 week period before the show. It assumes you're going to want to buy tickets in the next 2 weeks, so it gives you where it thinks prices will go in the next 2 weeks. It doesn't usually say "no no, it'll go down 3 months from now, you should wait." Basically, use it when you get closer to try to figure out whether the prices are going to keep going down in the immediate future.
Kayak has undergone a great revamp recently, and is now better than farecast/Bing for price searching. Also always remember to check JetBlue, Southwest, and Virgin America separately... sometimes their deals show up on other sites, sometimes they don't.
Miles! They're a thing! Even if you only fly once or twice a year, many airlines have miles that never expire, or expire only if you don't fly with them for over a year. It might not seem like much, but after 4 years of paying for flights, a free flight to PAX can feel like a gift from the gods. If you're using miles, you want to try to book your flight 7-10 weeks out, possibly slightly earlier, as these options can be more limited. However, the number of "miles" a flight costs can vary in relation to the actual retail price of that flight, so if you have the option to either use miles or pay money, you can wait and watch for a better deal.
Last year I flew out on a Thursday and back in on Monday. I waited the 3-7 weeks like everyone told me to and paid $450 which included my bags.
This year I bought tickets a month ago for a Saturday fly out (which is one of the busiest days of the week for flying) and I'll be flying back in on the Tuesday after PAX. By the time I post for my luggage I'll spend a little more than $300, $150 less than I spent waiting Last year.
Same thing happened to me this year too. I booked ours yesterday cause they were well over $100 less per ticket than last year when I waited for the usual window when they get cheaper. Last year I even used Yapta to track and alert when flight prices were past my target. Still got a better price booking now.
♥ Prime '12, '13, '14, '15, '19 ..♥ East '12
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sanovahNerd of the WestSan Diego, CaliforniaRegistered Userregular
For any traveling newbies. If you're undecided on an airline and can fly out of a big airport I'd recommend Virgin American.
From my experience they cost about the same as other airlines at big airports and the quality of their service and planes ares a level above their competition.
I just booked my flight on Southwest from PHL to SEA for $313 RT (1 hour'ish stops in MDW both ways). I've been watching and it kept going down, so I finally budged today at the price point. I refuse to fly US Airways and prefer SWA, so it was perfect for me.
+1
StarYoshiGame Designer / Data ScientistUSARegistered Userregular
edited April 2013
Frontier is my airline of choice. It wasn't going to get any better than $250 round trip unless a promo code or some such was released... I decided it was more important to get the correct flight booked than risk it, since I have to sync up with a friend.
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I'm looking into doing something a bit different this year in Seattle, and I'm looking into getting a rental car. In particular I was looking to do it as a way to spend the last day in Seattle after the convention ends, rent it in the city and drop it off at the airport. Anyone have any experience doing this and know if I'm out of my mind, where to find a good rental place nearby the convention center, and about how much it should cost?
Also in the process of looking for flights back home, anyone try to fly back the night the convention ends or is it not really worth it? The alternative is to wait an extra day, fly back on Jet Blue (never flown them before) and in the process avoid LAX in favor of Long Beach.
I'm looking into doing something a bit different this year in Seattle, and I'm looking into getting a rental car. In particular I was looking to do it as a way to spend the last day in Seattle after the convention ends, rent it in the city and drop it off at the airport. Anyone have any experience doing this and know if I'm out of my mind, where to find a good rental place nearby the convention center, and about how much it should cost?
You know, most folks say you're better off walking in Seattle. I'm a gimpy, grumpy old broad, and walking long distance is mostly not an option for me. I still say it would be a waste of money to rent a car. There are so many different options for public transit, and then there's cabs, there's those Thailand-esque tuk-tuk style bicycle cabs, and most hotels run shuttles to places of interest. Parking is insane... and I mean insane. Even with a handicapped permit, I have an extraordinarily difficult time finding parking. These days, I just park in the hotel lot, and leave it. If friends are meeting up somewhere across town, it's cheaper to take a cab than to move my vehicle, pay at yet another pay parking lot, then hope that I can move it back to the hotel and still have a spot available. If you rent a vehicle, you're not only paying for parking and losing hours looking for parking, you're also paying for the privilege to do so when you could have just got a bus or cab ride for a fraction of the cost in both cash and time.
I really do wish there was a Gimp's Guide to Seattle though. The City of Seattle does have an interactive handicapped parking space finding tool online, but it isn't nearly as helpful as I'd hoped for, since pretty much all of downtown is tied up with blue pass vehicles already. It would be nice if there was just like a walking map that rated different routes on accessibility.
My flights were odd this year, as I'm coming straight to PAX from another vacation, so I'm getting a series of one way flights rather than a round trip. I was able to get a direct flight from HNL to SEA for $315 - there were flights with a layover for $260, but none of them got me in before 10 PM, so I paid a little extra to arrive by 5 PM. The return SEA to DAY flight wasn't bad at $160 either (though it required two layovers); in previous years, the DAY - SEA round trip usually cost me around $400
for anyone who hates having a crapton of tabs trying to compare prices and stuff theres a site that ive been using called hipmunk.com just type in where youre flying in/out to and on what dates and it consolidates EVERYTHING. You can see everything by fare/departure/price and its all on one chart with times and its beautiful. Super easy for keeping tabs on prices all in one spot.
We got our tickets from Long Beach to SEA for 254/person round trip on Jet blue (who also ships the first checked bag for free, which is seriously handy). But we bought the tickets about 30 minutes after we got our badges.
sanovahNerd of the WestSan Diego, CaliforniaRegistered Userregular
edited April 2013
Not sure this is the right place but I know it's been talked about either here or the first time thread but I can't find it so I'll just ask.
Isn't there a boat that goes between Seattle and somewhere in Canada? Got a buddy that wants to come down or have me go up there and I vaguely remember someone mentioning a boat that goes between but can't remember much else.
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whypick1PAX [E] Info Booth Manager~2' from an LCDRegistered Userregular
ClixThis guy I knowSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
I never tried Light Rail before, but I'm giving it a shot for my trip from the Airport to my hotel. It's certainly a lot cheaper then a cab, and my hotel doesn't offer a shuttle.
I never tried Light Rail before, but I'm giving it a shot for my trip from the Airport to my hotel. It's certainly a lot cheaper then a cab, and my hotel doesn't offer a shuttle.
It's not a bad ride. Just be curteous to other passengers with your baggage (i.e. don't put it on the seat next to you, try to keep it out of the aisles, etc...). My group took it lask year and we enjoyed it.
I never tried Light Rail before, but I'm giving it a shot for my trip from the Airport to my hotel. It's certainly a lot cheaper then a cab, and my hotel doesn't offer a shuttle.
The Light Rail is a great ride. Takes about 30 minutes from the airport to downtown, and depending on where you're staying a couple blocks walking to the hotels. But I've taken it to and from airport all 3 times I've been to Seattle in the past couple years and it is so easy. Highly recommend it.
I also echo the "Be courteous to other riders" especailly if you're arriving during prime time/rush hour.
I took the light rail last prime, it's definitely the best way to go from the airport to downtown in my opinion. It's a quick ride, you can see some neat stuff, and it's cheap. Like everyone else said though, being courteous is always important.
On that note... Anyone getting in late Thursday night? I'm not getting in until about 10pm and I'm not really looking forward to the late night trek.
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I guess i've hit crotchety old man territory, but to me it's worth paying the 30$ (round trip, so to the hotel and back to the airport when you're leaving) for a shuttle that'll pack/unpack my bags and take me directly to the hotel, no having to wrestle bags around on the light rail or lug it to wherever my hotel is from the stop.
I shared a van taxi from the airport to the hotel, and then paid $50 for a private town car to take me back to the airport. Both were fantastic decisions, and I wouldn't even consider the light rail. Then again, it's an absolutely viable option if money is a major factor.. but I'm with taliosfalcon on the fact that sometimes I just want to pay money for something a little better.
yea, the main thing is that I really don't mind walking one block from a train station to my hotel with a duffel bag. It will actually be a bit further of a walk from my hotel to the WSCC every day than the train station. But to each their own.
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Guess who's coming to PAX? This guy is! Has anyone done the Bolt Bus from PDX? At 21 dollars, that really seems like my best option, but I've never ridden a Bolt bus.
Still haven't bought my plane tickets yet, I'm waiting on a friend so we can buy them together. I've been watching plane ticket prices for the past few weeks and haven't really seen them go up; when should I expect the tickets to rise in price?
Soon. We're less then 29 days until PAX. You should really get your travel stuff arranged soon. General rule of thumb is 6 weeks out before prices start to rise but now we're within that so any time now.
Same here - we booked our flight months ago to get in on Wednesday morning but now it's getting in during the afternoon. We were going to get tickets to see the Mariners but now our flight will be getting in too late to do that.
God dammit I had to take Air Canada this year. I was spoiled by Alaska/Horizon last year. Flying from Edmonton, by way of Calgary. For the amount of time I'll be held over in Calgary, I might as well made the 3 hour drive from Edmonton.
Ugh, Air Canada is only preferable when it's free.
God dammit I had to take Air Canada this year. I was spoiled by Alaska/Horizon last year. Flying from Edmonton, by way of Calgary. For the amount of time I'll be held over in Calgary, I might as well made the 3 hour drive from Edmonton.
Ugh, Air Canada is only preferable when it's free.
I won't go to Seattle/PAX any other way than the Alaska Air direct flight from Edmonton. Love Love Love it.
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I'll just give people the data, so they can decide for themselves whether to trust your anecdote or the general research.
US News & World Report - 6 weeks is the best time.
Kayak crunched its own numbers and found that 21 days was a sweet spot.
Farecompare gives a broader window, 4 months to 3 weeks.
While there's a lot of dispute about when the exact sweet spot is, there's a pretty strong consensus that buying too early is a mistake, and I've never seen any serious advocate arguing for buying non-holiday-peak domestic tickets earlier than 8-10 weeks in advance.
Again, to emphasize, there are individual deals that break this pattern! If you see a good deal, take it! This is just about AVERAGES.
Pretty much all of these sites confirm that Tues, Wed, and Sat are significantly cheaper than the rest of the week, as far as flying goes. (see also Farecompare'sday of the week flight analysis.The "tickets are cheaper on M, Tu, W" wisdom is kind of in dispute, and may only apply for high-traffic, high competition routes.
Triwizard Drinking Tournament - '09 !Hufflepuff unofficial conscript, '10 !Gryffindor
Nerd blog at culturalgeekgirl.com
I'd recommend checking the prices from Bellingham. Generally, I use this location when flying throughout the states from Vancouver, because flying out of Vancouver can add hundreds of dollars onto a ticket.
Most of the time, flying out of Seattle would likely be cheaper, but in this case, as it is the end of PAX, and the end of Labor day weekend, you should at the very least give them a look.
This year I shall be making a contribution to the community Wiki page for PAX that will cover these and many other things. Once it has been installed, I shall link to it on this thread and may even make a new one. That may however result in me getting a warning from a mod so I better check with them before I do that.
This contribution should be up over the weekend, so to those of you who are travelling from outside the US, this guide may of use to you. By way of establishing my credentials, this forthcoming PAX Prime will be my 10th travelling from London, UK. So I know a thing or two about being a stranger in a strange land
I did not, didn't want to risk being out $350 non refundable with no badge, same flight is now almost $600.
Same thing happened to me this year too. I booked ours yesterday cause they were well over $100 less per ticket than last year when I waited for the usual window when they get cheaper. Last year I even used Yapta to track and alert when flight prices were past my target. Still got a better price booking now.
From my experience they cost about the same as other airlines at big airports and the quality of their service and planes ares a level above their competition.
PAX Prime / PAX Dev 2014
PAX Prime 2013
PAX Prime 2009
Also in the process of looking for flights back home, anyone try to fly back the night the convention ends or is it not really worth it? The alternative is to wait an extra day, fly back on Jet Blue (never flown them before) and in the process avoid LAX in favor of Long Beach.
You know, most folks say you're better off walking in Seattle. I'm a gimpy, grumpy old broad, and walking long distance is mostly not an option for me. I still say it would be a waste of money to rent a car. There are so many different options for public transit, and then there's cabs, there's those Thailand-esque tuk-tuk style bicycle cabs, and most hotels run shuttles to places of interest. Parking is insane... and I mean insane. Even with a handicapped permit, I have an extraordinarily difficult time finding parking. These days, I just park in the hotel lot, and leave it. If friends are meeting up somewhere across town, it's cheaper to take a cab than to move my vehicle, pay at yet another pay parking lot, then hope that I can move it back to the hotel and still have a spot available. If you rent a vehicle, you're not only paying for parking and losing hours looking for parking, you're also paying for the privilege to do so when you could have just got a bus or cab ride for a fraction of the cost in both cash and time.
I really do wish there was a Gimp's Guide to Seattle though. The City of Seattle does have an interactive handicapped parking space finding tool online, but it isn't nearly as helpful as I'd hoped for, since pretty much all of downtown is tied up with blue pass vehicles already. It would be nice if there was just like a walking map that rated different routes on accessibility.
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Isn't there a boat that goes between Seattle and somewhere in Canada? Got a buddy that wants to come down or have me go up there and I vaguely remember someone mentioning a boat that goes between but can't remember much else.
It's not a bad ride. Just be curteous to other passengers with your baggage (i.e. don't put it on the seat next to you, try to keep it out of the aisles, etc...). My group took it lask year and we enjoyed it.
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You know it.
The Light Rail is a great ride. Takes about 30 minutes from the airport to downtown, and depending on where you're staying a couple blocks walking to the hotels. But I've taken it to and from airport all 3 times I've been to Seattle in the past couple years and it is so easy. Highly recommend it.
I also echo the "Be courteous to other riders" especailly if you're arriving during prime time/rush hour.
On that note... Anyone getting in late Thursday night? I'm not getting in until about 10pm and I'm not really looking forward to the late night trek.
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Yeah travel buddy! Make sure to wear a nerdy shirt (or PAX shirt) at the airport so I know who to chat with while waiting.
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Us too! I booked the same week tickets came out and have had three changes so far.
Ugh, Air Canada is only preferable when it's free.
I never finish anyth
I won't go to Seattle/PAX any other way than the Alaska Air direct flight from Edmonton. Love Love Love it.