artnbarb
1000+ Posts
I've been drving myself crazy trying to decide when to buy airfare for 2 different flights. The first one's a quick visit to Ireland in March. What I always think should be simple has now been complicated beyond belief, and the process now has to include such questions as:
I ended up selecting what I consider to be a really bizarre route - I have to fly from Tampa to Dall/Ft Worth to get to Dublin - seriously??? But in the end I selected the least painful itinerary at a price that I can live with. Premium economy wasn't available, so at least I didn't have to wrestle with that dilemma.
For the other flight, to Dubrovnik, I wanted to use miles, meaning I need to book sooner rather than later, before the itinerary I want is gone, or before they raise the number of miles needed. This itinerary is pretty weird too. If we can get oursleves to Orlando (about 2 hrs away), they have a pretty direct flight - MCO-LGW-DBV. Yes, we have to change planes in Europe, which is breaking one of my rules, but honestly, getting to Dubrovnik isn't that easy! It cost us 30K miles each PLUS $250 in taxes (for the privilege of landing at Gatwick), but the way I see it, it was only going to get more expensive and more complicated if I waited, so I booked that flight too.
Now all I have to do is try to keep up with the schedule changes you know will happen!
- WHY does any airline think 90 minutes is enough time for an international connection? Why do they even waste my time by listing these ridiculous itineraries?
- WHY do airlines list the very important "airport change" in tiny print?? Not that I'm interested under any circumstances, but having to travel bewteen LGW and LHR, or EWR and JFK is just asking for (even more) trouble given the recent airline/airport meltdowns.
- If the price today is X, but last year the price dipped in mid-February, should I pay X now, or wiat to see if the price will dip. OR get burned when I discover that not only won't the price dip, the fares this year will never, ever be as low as that one day I saw it listed as X. I can't figure out what's a reasonable price to pay for a dozen eggs, much less airfare to Dubrovnik.
I ended up selecting what I consider to be a really bizarre route - I have to fly from Tampa to Dall/Ft Worth to get to Dublin - seriously??? But in the end I selected the least painful itinerary at a price that I can live with. Premium economy wasn't available, so at least I didn't have to wrestle with that dilemma.
For the other flight, to Dubrovnik, I wanted to use miles, meaning I need to book sooner rather than later, before the itinerary I want is gone, or before they raise the number of miles needed. This itinerary is pretty weird too. If we can get oursleves to Orlando (about 2 hrs away), they have a pretty direct flight - MCO-LGW-DBV. Yes, we have to change planes in Europe, which is breaking one of my rules, but honestly, getting to Dubrovnik isn't that easy! It cost us 30K miles each PLUS $250 in taxes (for the privilege of landing at Gatwick), but the way I see it, it was only going to get more expensive and more complicated if I waited, so I booked that flight too.
Now all I have to do is try to keep up with the schedule changes you know will happen!