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Old 03-14-2009, 02:37 PM   #1
 
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Default Regarding airfare fluctuations.

So the story is that I was looking at airfare from my dear town of Spokane to Halifax, and one night I had planned to finally buy it - it was $600 and I felt like it was the best I was going to get. But for some reason I decided to wait a day, and alas, it is up by $140 on average, across the board, for the dates I wanted - June 15 (ish) to August 9 (ish).

Any ideas on what to do here? Do I buy the $740 ticket now, or wait to see if it goes down, or something else? It's not the end of the world, but it sure is irritating... I've read through some of the other threads on airfare, and it seems like it's pretty random overall - sometimes you buy short-notice and get a great deal, sometimes you buy months in advance and get a great deal, etc. etc.

Thanks a bunch!
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Old 03-14-2009, 02:45 PM   #2
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make sure after each time you search, you clear your cookies. it's shady but prices rise when you check the same dates multiple times.

also, try Cheap Flights, Airline Tickets, Cheap Airfare & Discount Travel Deals - Kayak.com, that's where I have found the best airfare deals.
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Old 03-14-2009, 03:28 PM   #3
 
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make sure after each time you search, you clear your cookies. it's shady but prices rise when you check the same dates multiple times.

also, try Cheap Flights, Airline Tickets, Cheap Airfare & Discount Travel Deals - Kayak.com, that's where I have found the best airfare deals.
Ahh, thank you for the tips! I already use Kayak, and I love it for the lowest fares, but I tried clearing cookies and no dice.. hmm, I think that I'll give it a week, and if things don't start to change, I'm just going to suck it up and buy at $740 or whatever. I'm starting to go crazy not having the tickets in hand!
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Old 03-14-2009, 04:21 PM   #4
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Im the same, I like things sorted long before im leaving!

I know it's an obvious one, but have you looked directly on an airlines site? I always book directly on their websites, and find I get better rates, even if its by a few pounds.
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Old 03-15-2009, 09:24 PM   #5
 
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Im the same, I like things sorted long before im leaving!

I know it's an obvious one, but have you looked directly on an airlines site? I always book directly on their websites, and find I get better rates, even if its by a few pounds.
Thanks for the idea! I checked out a few of the sites for the airlines I was considering, but unfortunately I didn't get much of a difference in price.. bleckkkk, silly airfare business. :P I'm basically resigned to my fate at this point, I guess.

Oh yeah, I was going to ask - for those of you who have travelled at 17 (or younger, I suppose), did you buy your ticket yourself, or have your parents book for you? I have all my own money in a checking account, plus a Mastercard debit card, but I'm getting paranoid that I'll get in a mess if I buy it myself and then they catch me or something like that! :P

Honestly, I'm getting kind of sick of all this ridiculous age restriction business, and not being sure what is just formality, and what is actually something to be concerned about. Thank god I turn 18 this year...
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Old 03-16-2009, 03:04 AM   #6
 
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First, let me ask what airline you're seeing the best price on?

Sometimes, though unfortunately rarely, airlines offer a "best fare" guarantee. Meaning that if the price of the ticket goes down after you book, you can get a credit back for the difference to use on a future flight.
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Old 03-16-2009, 03:57 AM   #7
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Another thing - as a general guideline airfare drops on Sunday afternoons and then creeps back up by late Tuesday or so...just another weird rule of thumb. So you might wanna wait until next weekend and see if it drops again...
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Old 03-16-2009, 12:19 PM   #8
 
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First, let me ask what airline you're seeing the best price on?

Sometimes, though unfortunately rarely, airlines offer a "best fare" guarantee. Meaning that if the price of the ticket goes down after you book, you can get a credit back for the difference to use on a future flight.
Well, I was looking on Kayak for the vast majority of my searching, so I came up with two or three airlines that were the cheapest for this particular flight, which were Air Canada, United, and American Airlines. Air Canada offered the most convenient times for my purposes, and was about as cheap as the rest, so I was counting mostly on it, though American was also okay.

That is actually really awesome, because I was trying to think of some kind of search term to use for just such a thing, the best fare guarantee - it would be the biggest pisser ever if I buy the damn thing and it goes down to like, $400 the next day, just taunting me. :P
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Old 03-16-2009, 12:24 PM   #9
 
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Another thing - as a general guideline airfare drops on Sunday afternoons and then creeps back up by late Tuesday or so...just another weird rule of thumb. So you might wanna wait until next weekend and see if it drops again...
Ahh, excellent! This is basically what I was looking for, strange little "insider" or whatever-er tips on the pattern (ha!) of the airfare prices. I'll bide my time and figure out what I'll need to do to buy the ticket itself with my own money, and check back next weekend (crossing my fingers, I suppose).
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Old 03-18-2009, 06:18 PM   #10
 
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Rock on, airfare went down today for my trip, and I want to buy now so it won't get away from me! Being underage, I'm not quite sure how to go about buying the ticket itself, though - I've got all the money in my own checking account, but I've got the suspicion that it might be better to have my dad buy it and I'll just transfer the money to his account, due to the fact that I'd be breakin' the law by buying it myself online... any comments? I don't mean to sound needy, but you guys are damn knowledgeable. :D
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Old 03-19-2009, 04:17 AM   #11
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Sorry I couldn't respond faster - hope the price is still low.

If your dad will buy the ticket for you, might as well have him do it - just be careful that the actual booking is done in your name. That can be an expensive mistake to make.
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Old 03-19-2009, 08:26 AM   #12
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Why can't a minor buy a plane ticket? Seems like you could just use your debit card and it should work fine.
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Old 03-19-2009, 09:37 AM   #13
 
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Sorry I couldn't respond faster - hope the price is still low.

If your dad will buy the ticket for you, might as well have him do it - just be careful that the actual booking is done in your name. That can be an expensive mistake to make.
Ah, for sure, thanks! I figured that out when I went on a "dry run" through filling out the form to buy it on Cheaptickets, and noticed that there was a section asking for the name of the person actually taking the plane trip, and the person booking it. And yeah, that way, I assume they'll just take a look at the ticket and the passport to make sure the names match, but not really care about the age or anything like that.
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Old 03-19-2009, 09:43 AM   #14
 
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Why can't a minor buy a plane ticket? Seems like you could just use your debit card and it should work fine.
That's what I would have figured! I think that part of it is that it is against the terms of service for all the airfare providers... it would just suck to buy it, and then find out at check-in or something that I've broken some rule that's going to take forever to fix, or worse -- having to wear the "unaccompanied minor" badge. D:

I did read that some people have done that as teenagers by buying online with a debit card or at a ticket window with cash, so maybe I'm just overthinking things. Not a big surprise there. :P
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Old 03-20-2009, 12:48 PM   #15
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Yeah, I tend to go by the better safe than sorry rule. (Thank god) I don't have to deal with that anymore, but if I had to, I would have one of my parents buy me the ticket and just do an online transfer. Or, actually.. Hmm, my dad was listed as an account holder on my checking account (I actually still keep getting awkward questions about John, my "husband"), so if that's the case, you could probably still use your debit information.
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Old 03-20-2009, 04:33 PM   #16
 
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YAY! Ticket is purchased, thanks to my dad!! Let's hope everything goes well at the border and all of that! He just bought it with his credit card, put me as the traveller, and I'll just transfer the balance to him from my checking account.

Julia! I didn't think of that, honestly, though "my" checking account is actually a joint account with my dad! Well, in the future I'll be 18 and not having to think of these silly things.

Alright, so now I'm set to go, and can focus on planning! Now what I'm a little nervous about is the actual things I'll need to show at the border, to show that I've got permission to get through to Canada on my own.

My dad knows that he'll need to sign a note, and I'll provide the address of one of my CouchSurfing hosts for who I'm staying with, but I wonder whether it should be notarized, or if it is just a formality that they probably won't check. But, better safe than sorry, so maybe I'll just do it anyway, but does anyone know if they'll require someone qualified to pick me up at the airport? That would.. suck.
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Old 03-20-2009, 04:53 PM   #17
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Now, this isn't anything official, but I found this after a quick search on google: Large Print Reviews - Traveling With Your Eye Shut: Travel in Canada

I traveled to Canada for a band trip when I was... 16? Or 17. Anyway, we needed notarized notes since the "responsible adults" weren't our parents (ha! I just tried to imagine my 28 yr. old Asian orchestra director trying to pass as my father....). That website matches what I ended up having to do, so that makes me trust the information on traveling alone as a minor.

I can't believe your parents are letting you stay at someone's house from CS! My parents had slight hesitation about me meeting people like WWM in Baltimore a couple of years ago! You're very lucky, for sure.

Hope this helps!
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Old 03-20-2009, 05:24 PM   #18
 
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Now, this isn't anything official, but I found this after a quick search on google: Large Print Reviews - Traveling With Your Eye Shut: Travel in Canada

I traveled to Canada for a band trip when I was... 16? Or 17. Anyway, we needed notarized notes since the "responsible adults" weren't our parents (ha! I just tried to imagine my 28 yr. old Asian orchestra director trying to pass as my father....). That website matches what I ended up having to do, so that makes me trust the information on traveling alone as a minor.

I can't believe your parents are letting you stay at someone's house from CS! My parents had slight hesitation about me meeting people like WWM in Baltimore a couple of years ago! You're very lucky, for sure.

Hope this helps!
Well, what I'm thinking is that since I will be completely on my own, and not travelling with an unrelated adult, that my situation will be slightly different, but thanks a bunch for digging that up for me! I think the key will be conducting myself like I am a normal adult traveller, which I would be if the trip were a whole five months later - really, it shouldn't be a problem, I don't look 17, I don't act 17 (haha, how many teenagers say that...), I hope that they'll treat me like I am just another traveller to the great land of Canada and Ellen Page.

And yes, my dad is a huge fan of CouchSurfing, so he's pretty happy to let me do it! I'm excited, I've already written up a good list of people that I'm interested in staying with while I'm over there. Fun stuff! Technically, I guess I'm not supposed to have a CS account at my age, but I joined originally with my dad, and I am thinking that it's not going to be problematic.
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Old 03-21-2009, 03:26 PM   #19
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I think I read about this somewhere, but I can't remember. When are you in Canada for again/how long/where? Are you only going to be on the east coast for the entire time...?
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Old 03-21-2009, 07:28 PM   #20
 
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I think I read about this somewhere, but I can't remember. When are you in Canada for again/how long/where? Are you only going to be on the east coast for the entire time...?
I'm going to be staying only on the east coast for two months, from June 16 through August 12, travelling through Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, possibly PEI.
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