For fun today, let's traipse over to Kayak and check on some fares.
Choose ROUND TRIP.
Put a big-city airport in the FROM box. I choose Newark (EWR). [Why not my home city? Because a lot of times, I can find a fare to a big city on a discount carrier that Kayak doesn't search. For example, if I plan ahead, I can get from San Antonio to Islip Airport (Long Island, NY) on Southwest for $120 -- much cheaper than most other domestic carriers.]
Put your destination city in the TO box. I choose Paris (CDG).
Choose to depart September 1 and return September 15. For ease, accept the defaults of 1 traveler and economy class. Uncheck any boxes that may be checked (I've unchecked Priceline).
Click SEARCH...
My best fare: $673 on Continental (happens to be non-stop).
Now modify your search. I'm advancing my dates, at 2-week intervals, to see how the fares change. You may choose to leave on a different day of the week, or lengthen your trip. Try changing only one factor at a time to see how it affects your fare.
Here are the fares I found:
Sep 15 - Sep 29: $673 (Continental, non-stop)
Sep 29 - Oct 13: $652 (multiple airlines, 1 stop)
Oct 13 - Oct 27: $630 (multiple airlines, 1 stop)
Oct 27 - Nov 10: $596 (multiple airlines, 1 stop)
Nov 10 - Nov 24: $596 (multiple airlines, 1 stop)
Nov 24 - Dec 08: $596 (multiple airlines, 1 stop)
Dec 08 - Dec 22: $616 (multiple airlines, 1 stop)
Dec 22 - Jan 05: $727 (Continental, non-stop)
Jan 05 - Jan 19: $642 (Continental, non-stop)
Jan 19 - Feb 02: $616 (multiple airlines, 1 stop)
There's definitely a sweet spot from late October to early December. You can see how the December holiday season affects the price. Dave and I love to travel in the off-season for our destination countries/cities -- but more about the joys of off-season travel in a future post.
So! Where did you choose to go? What were your time frames or departure days? And what were your results? Were they what you expected or different?
[image via Kayak]
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Friday, July 24, 2009
Daily Pie Field Trip: Kayak.com
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6 ate pie:
I got to go to San Fran over Labor Day weekend for not too much money. That surprised me! I checked all the big websites, but ended up buying from Air Tran itself.
Or I mean Memorial Day. I think. The one in May.
Additionally, if your planning a trip, I always use hotwire.com when it comes to finding a hotel room. They have great deals and save you anywhere from 25% to 50% on your lodging costs when your on a trip.
CarrieLaura - you find that a lot with online services; in fact, since Kayak's just a search engine, I think all tickets are purchased through the airline or aggregator (like Travelocity). AirTran has great fares!
Ed - Good advice - there are some great hotel deals to be had online.
Hotels.com is fabulous because if something comes up and you have to cancel they won't charge you a cancelation fee - unlike some other travel services *cough* priceline.com
Interesting. Thanks, Cole!
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