Flights - buy or wait

[popps]

Hello all,

Already booked accomodation for August but have still to confirm a flight. Flights seem much more expensive this year (average I can find from Leeds/Bradford or Manchester is £350). Contemplating whether the prices will up or down and how long should I wait.  Obviously don't want to wait until the last minute because I have the accomodation booked for specific dates. I'm tempted to shell out now. What do you think?

Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=9069.0

[Blue Lizard]

Fuel prices seem to be rising again....The iranian problem could cause further rises (or an excuse for)..The greedy money grubbing chancellor has a budget next month..rumour has it a 3p fuel rise timebomb for later in the year...who knows......but i wouldn't bet against him bashing airlines etc in an effort to rake in more all of which will be passed on to us

[Bob & Jayne]

We are going in August too, and were in the same position about a month ago, everytime we looked at flight prices they were going up rather than going down.  We think its due to the Olympics and Para Olympics with people flying in and out.  This year we have paid double what we paid last year! but it will be worth it when we visit Kalkan in the summer.  Cannot wait, only 158 days and counting!!!!

[JenJen]

I think it's best to book as soon as possible, generally.  We booked our flights for September last week and paid about £150 more than we would have done if we'd booked at the end of 2011 when there were lots of special offers on.  If you hang on, you might get lucky, but it's a risk.

We're flying out from Manchester with Thomas Cook and coming back with Jet2 as this has been by far the cheapest option for us for the second year running.   It's definitely worth checking whether two one-way flights with separate airlines are cheaper than a return

[BarbH]

We booked with Monarch just before christmas as we noticed the prices creeping up. Glad we did as tonight I have looked and the flight now is over £100 more. Extra leg room seats have been reduced though!!! Total price we paid was £513 for  two which included extra leg room sats, meals going there (not coming back) and 20 kilo luggage which I thought was a good price for confortable seats and a daytime flight there and back.

[Skunk]

I booked mine in November and note that the price for the same flight is now £77 extra per flight -i.e. 4 flights for the two of us is over £300 extra.  That's with speedy boarding and daytime, but with a no-frills airline.  I've never known it get cheaper as the year goes on so I'd say the earlier you book the better, although my daughter got a very last minute BA flight about three years ago for £95 from Gatwick - could be risky though.

[mel]

I booked a one way flight from Dalaman to Gatwick 2 weeks ago  for £10.80, departs 26 March! No extra booking fees, only hold luggage extra.

[Skunk]

Crumbs. Lucky you!! What airline was that? Bargain of the decade!

[mel]

Thomas Cook, its still there but gone back up to just under 20euros! I always book last minute and get some good bargains, but as I travel on my own and am not restricted to when I travel its not a problem.

[brian j p]

Thomas cook still selling April/may return flights from Leeds/Bedford -Dalaman  for about £120

[macrefield mom]

Yes... i booked my flight to go out from Leeds Bradford on  April 13th for £109, so just scooped it up.  A different story for June 1st when we are paying almost £300 per ticket for 3 of us!  School term time dictates as we are taking my brother-in-law, who teaches, as a treat.  Prices are just going up year on year as airlines either disappear (remember Excel and ONUR) or simply cannot compete with the cheaper no frills flights to Europe.

It's certainly not a cheap holiday for us to visit our apartment as we cannot go for long periods of time.  We have to have quick weekly visits when we can, which when coupled with the taxi transfers / management costs / insurances / utilities.....makes this an expensive habit!

But oh what a joy it is when we finally get there and look at our view!!     It is what we bought and what we love.......

[popps]

Oops ... flights I have been looking at with Monarch from Manchester have just gone up today

[Cuddles]

popps, try clearing your 'cookies' and give it another go.
Some airline sites check for them and if they find one, will up the price on offer to that customer knowing that it may frighten them into thinking that they should hurry up and book at that price or, it may go up again. Deleting the 'cookies' makes the site think that you are a new customer and it offers you the best price.
It's a good idea to set your browser to always delete delete cookies when you close it.

[popps]

Hi, BubblesG,
Don't think this is the case here, as I found the increase on my computer at work. The price increase is also reflected in both Monarch and Travel Republic websites. If the tour companies were tracking you via cookies wouldn't they attempt to catch you by decreasing the price slightly rather than raising it?

[Blue Lizard]

the sneaky little buggers have a worm..it detects you clicking onto details..and and how few clicks you took..it then works out you are interested in that flight having visited before and ups the price    but as you say i think it's just going up anyways......

[popps]

Nope, just checked on daughter's laptop and the price has definitely gone up.

[kalkan4eva]

Generally with no frills scheduled flights you get the best bargains on the day the flights are released and occasionally when there's a "sale", have to say though, Jet2's flights went cheaper over a period of time after the initial release last year Flights we looked at initially for October dropped dramatically in August...so they appear to act in reverse to say, easyJet. Maybe that was a one-off. When we were booking for June, albeit later than we would normally book, the Jet 2 flights were really expensive - easyJet were £300 cheaper for the two of us. Charter flights always go cheaper nearer to the departure date, but you are generally fixed to 7 days or 14 days. Try Sky Scanner for the best deals later on as they will offer single flights with different airlines if its cheaper, I personally avoid Travel Republic at all costs

[popps]

Prices for Jet2 to Dalaman from Leeds/Bradford have dropped for the last two days. Is there a downward trend here or will prices hike up. Any experience?

[DRBD]

That is quite interesting, as the Easter holidays approach would have thought they would be quite high.  Perhaps because Easter is quite early this year they are having problems selling tickets, or that people are just staying home or they are waiting for the May B/H. Anyway it's nice hear that some flight prices are going down albeit possibly for a short time.

[kalkan4eva]

Popps read my post, just above yours. Last year Jet 2 did drop its prices the nearer to the flight which is quite the reverse of other no frills. In my opinion they need to drop their prices, easyJet are undercutting them considerably from Manchester