<p>I need to go to D.C and was planning on mid to late April. I am thnking 5-7 days. Didn’t realize Easter was so late this year. Started looking into flights and the sites I used to use, Travelocity and Expedia, apparently don’t do that plus or minus a few days thing any more. Also, their flights look to be more expensive than Delta is. Right now the flight is only $298 and I was thinking that was pretty good but I’m not ready to commit since my work schedule isn’t set.</p>
<p>Do you think flights between now and then will get more expensive, stay the same, or even drop a little? And are there any other travel sites I should check? </p>
<p>I fly to DC at least twice a year from DFW. $298 is not bad, but I don’t ever fly Delta anymore. They ‘stuck’ me in Salt Lake twice. Just a personal decision.</p>
<p>Ultimately, it depends upon your departure point. A big place like DFW can get lots of options that a smaller airport would not. That tends to keep prices low. Do you mind another stop? US Airways has many options going through either Philly or Charlotte.</p>
<p>With DC, it can very much depend upon what you plan to do and how you plan to get around. They have 3 airports in the area and I have even found better deals sometimes flying into Dulles and out of Reagan (or vice versa). I have not done BWI because my office is between the other two and it is not cost effective for me.</p>
<p>As for travel sites…I used the 3 day +/- thing a few days ago. Try Orbitz?</p>
<p>Don’t forget that Southwest, which isn’t included on some of the major travel sites, also flies into the DC area. You need to look on its site separately.</p>
<p>I doubt airfares will drop (they never did for me) but sometimes there are ‘sales’ at odd times. The key is to check airfare for all three airports. </p>
<p>Where are you flying from? Coast to coast round trip, $298 would be a steal, from another east coast city, not such a deal. I tend to think $298 is probably pretty good, unless it’s too many legs, middle of the night, or very close by. </p>
<p>Thanks. That was all very helpful. I’m flying from Detroit. It ha to be into Reagan. Will try Flint though, but last time I looked, that was more. I wish I could book it today because I don’t think flights will get much cheaper and I really want non stop. Not worth 20-30 dollars for an extra stop. Would be worth $100 but don’t think it would go that low.</p>
<p>I think the only airlines that fly non-stop that route are Delta, US Airways, and American. The last two just have one or two a day, Delta has several, and is certainly your best bet. One flight gets cancelled, they’ll put you on another, not many direct options with the other ones. Southwest doesn’t fly that route direct.</p>
<p>I like to go to the website cheapfares.com, just to compare prices and see who flies the route, then book directly on the airline website. I think that’s a pretty good price, but I can’t remember the name of the website that will tell you if the price is going to go up or down, and when the best time to buy it is. Anyone know the name of that site?</p>
<p>Okay, so I just checked a bunch of dates on Delta’s low fare calendar. This is interesting, it is very consistent. I’ve never seen such consistent fares. Just for the random dates I checked (they also show plus or minus 3 days), if you were going sometime in Feb, you’d pay $367. In March and the first week of April, $257 is the lowest fare. Easter weekend and the weekend prior, you’d pay $298.</p>
<p>So I don’t know if the prices go up because it’s getting to be more of a peak travel time, or just because it’s so far out, and if you waited a couple of weeks, the fare would go down to $257. I’m sure that site I can’t remember the name of will tell you. It’s also possible they’d have a big sale that could change prices, with airlines, who knows. It’s just really weird that the cheapest fares were all the same on their lowest fare calendar.</p>
<p>I thought that was weird too busdriver. I’ve used that method before and the flights vary by quite a bit. But I did it for April 17 - 22 give or take three days and the fare was exactly the same. Which I guess is nice because I can base my trip on when I want to go. But weird. </p>
<p>I’ll try US Airways and American too. Although I hate American. Southwest did not have non stop although their fare was only $180. Might have to think about that.</p>
<p>Yes, but it will take a few years until they’re one airline. Right now they’re just codeshare and allowing people to book the other airline on their website. Hoping USAir, called the “black widow of the airlines” won’t destroy American. So glad I don’t work there anymore.</p>
<p>“I thought that was weird too busdriver. I’ve used that method before and the flights vary by quite a bit. But I did it for April 17 - 22 give or take three days and the fare was exactly the same. Which I guess is nice because I can base my trip on when I want to go. But weird.”</p>
<p>The fact that the fare was $367 for most of Feb, and then switched to $257 for all of March and part of April struck me as odd too. You never have fares with such consistency for such a long time. Made me wonder if there was something wrong with the website!</p>