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Tickets to Spain: Cost Saving Strategies?

SkyGheNeSkyGheNe Registered User regular
edited February 2009 in Help / Advice Forum
So I made a thread earlier about what to see/do in Spain and France, but now I have another question: what strategy do you guys use to book cheap flights? Booking far in advance nets me a $1200 ticket, but it seems like if I book a week in advance I could net one for as cheap as $500, but is this necessarily wise?

SkyGheNe on

Posts

  • TurnerTurner Registered User regular
    edited October 2018
    deleted.

    Turner on
  • SkyGheNeSkyGheNe Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Turner wrote: »
    I use http://www.kayak.com to buy most (if not all) of my tickets.

    If you don't have a specific airport you need to fly into, you can always try to mess around with where you fly into, as the landing fees might be different.

    If it helps, I just got a round trip ticket from Seattle to CDG (Paris) for $550 USD, and it would have been the same to Madrid or Barcelona. I fly out on the 17th of this month.

    Did you book last minute? I noticed that flights are at that price for Feb 12, but my flight will be in June. Should I just take a gamble and wait till about 2-3 weeks before the trip?

    SkyGheNe on
  • TurnerTurner Registered User regular
    edited October 2018
    deleted.

    Turner on
  • SkyGheNeSkyGheNe Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Turner wrote: »
    SkyGheNe wrote: »
    Did you book last minute? I noticed that flights are at that price for Feb 12, but my flight will be in June. Should I just take a gamble and wait till about 2-3 weeks before the trip?

    Oh yeah, sorry. I forgot to mention when I booked. 2 days ago.

    EDIT: Yeah, I would honestly recommend waiting. I think airlines keep prices high this far out for people exactly like you, who know a couple months in advance whether/where they are going, and want to get their flights out of the way.

    With that said, I flew to Paris this last November as well, and bought the tickets in September for essentially the same price as the most recent set ($570).

    The other thing you can do is try messing around with your departure/arrival dates, as those can have a BIG impact on pricing depending on what day of the week you fly. This is assuming your dates are flexible.

    Yeah I'm absolutely flexible which nice. Thanks for the advice - I'll keep working at it.

    SkyGheNe on
  • HypatiaHypatia Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    You should also keep in mind that looking at ticket prices within a few weeks right now is going to be cheaper than tickets in the summer because it's the off-peak season right now. Waiting to buy tickets till a few weeks ahead of time for summer flights might not work out to be cheaper.

    Hypatia on
  • SkyGheNeSkyGheNe Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Hypatia wrote: »
    You should also keep in mind that looking at ticket prices within a few weeks right now is going to be cheaper than tickets in the summer because it's the off-peak season right now. Waiting to buy tickets till a few weeks ahead of time for summer flights might not work out to be cheaper.

    Good point. I hear July/August is peak for spain. I wish my cousin was getting married in the fall/winter, but it wouldn't be as nice I guess.

    SkyGheNe on
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