One Call To Our Travel Agent And Airline Tickets For Trip #12 Are Purchased

Airfare for trip #12 has been purchased.  For July?  Already?  Yes and yes!

Trolling airline prices, setting price alerts on Kayak, and even checking out a new airfare site, hipmunk.com keeps me in the loop for flight prices, times, trends, etc.  I was watching fares climb and then descend.  Everything in my gut said buy.  So, we did.  And, two days later the price climbed $65 per ticket. 

When I called our travel agent to make the purchase, she called me back just a few minutes later to let me know that the prices were a handful of dollars higher at an airport 60 miles closer than the one we were booking our flights to and from.  She said she might make more work for herself by telling me but wanted us to know.  (Oh, just another reason why we love her!) 

I told her that I already knew the prices for that airport but while the prices were only a bit higher, the times for the flights were not as good.  Early morning as compared to later in the morning; one requiring an overnight stay prior to flying as opposed to driving that morning.  She laughed and I thanked her for checking.

Buying airfare is like gambling and figuring odds of winning.  Knowing price trends for various airports, airlines, and destinations helps.  I have also found, after several trips, that there is also a cycle with flights out of various airports being better deals some years and then not so much other years. 

When I was visiting with our travel agent, I told her I thought it was funny that we booked the flights first and then will fill in the middle, though we already know what we want.  She didn’t think it was funny to do the flights first at all.   Let the planning begin!