Airfares question

[hdsqrl]

As I'm not much of a frequent-airline-ticket-buyer, are there historically better times of the year than others to book a flight for the week of Thanksgiving?  Or is it a buy-as-early-as-you-can kind of thing?  We're hoping to head to CA, and right now I'm seeing fares online ranging from the mid-$300's up through the mid-$400's.  Book now, or wait

Comments

[itsajhthing]

Is there a certain airline you want to fly on? Or want to avoid?

[hdsqrl]

Nope, no preference on airlines, but the whole family will be going, so I'll need 4 tickets. The family we'll be visiting in CA all live in the Bay Area, so flying into San Jose or even San Francisco would be best. Thoughts?

[itsajhthing]

Well, my family works for Southwest, and I'm a SW junkie at heart. They fly into SF, SJ and Oakland, however they have not opened their schedule for Thanksgiving yet. I would keep an eye on their website and check their fares when they do open up their schedule. I would book early.

They have some nonstop direct flights into Oakland.

[hdsqrl]

Yep, their website was the first one I visited, actually. My concern is that by the time they open up their schedule, it'll be too close to the holiday season to get a good rate. Aaack.

[pink_chimneys]

ive never been able to get a flight for under 500 flying from seattle to kc around thanksgiving. and thats usually at least 2 months in advance. I'd book now if you are able to. I use priceline.com though so maybe their are cheaper ways to get tickets than through there.

[hdsqrl]

I'll give them a whirl...for some reason it never even dawned on me to try them. Derr. :p

[meowed]

Really? We go back for around $300-$400 at Christmas. I'm glad we don't go at Thanksgiving!

[tequilalemonade]

Where are you looking to fly into?

Sometimes I find cheaper rates going directly to the airline vs using a discount seller...but you might also try kayak.com :)

[hdsqrl]

I'm looking to fly into San Jose (ideally) or San Francisco would also work in a pinch. I'll try kayak.com...thanks! Hadn't heard of that one before. :)

[jferg]

Try Farecast.

[hdsqrl]

Will do, many thanks! :)

[queenelle]

Also, I like http://www.kayak.com

I make a yearly trip to California in the spring and last year I somehow booked tickets to LA for only $180. No idea how it happened...I think it's just because I stalked the prices religiously for a while!

[tequilalemonade]

tickets out of KC are usually cheaper because KC is a major hub...I checked from KC to San Jose for first week in March, $180, but I checked from Austin (which is a much smaller, less traveled airport) to San Jose and it was $283...yay for being in the middle of the country!