<p>Okay, so I am trying to book airfare from the NY area to Cancun in January. The price has gone up considerably since I began looking 2 weeks ago. I am not a seasoned traveler so I’m not sure if I should bite the bullet and book today so I don’t lose this price, or if I should wait to see if prices will come down. I had wanted to fly Jet Blue, but it now looks like they are pretty much booked, so now I’m looking at Continental. Any advice would be great as I don’t fly often and I’m pretty clueless.
Thanks.</p>
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<p>Allows you to check multiple dates and multiple airlines. I can’t always get it to work, but there is a calendar that pops up showing the best fares that people using the site have found recently that you can click on as well if you like those fares.</p>
<p>If this is Feb 19-25, this is going to be difficult…many schools in NJ (although not all) get the week off…</p>
<p>I agree with kayak; subscribe to a fare alert daily this week…</p>
<p>Keep you eyes out on Tuesday at 3:00 pm…fares tend to drop at that time every week if they are going to drop</p>
<p>Set up a trip reminder w Yapta. Also second the comment to look on Tuesday evenings, as that’s when fares often are cheapest. </p>
<p>Do you have flexibilities with dates? If so, use the +/- 3 day option on Continental for pricing options. </p>
<p>Are you bumping into the MLK holiday? If so, you may be out of luck getting a cheap fare.</p>
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<p>The OP stated that she is traveling in January.</p>
<p>I, too, wonder if MLK is coming into play.</p>
<p>You’re getting good advice so far!</p>
<p>Adding: Unless you already have a relationship (points, card, etc) with an airline, there’s no reason to be loyal to any one of them before you search, IMO. </p>
<p>Southwest Airlines doesn’t participate with search compare engines such as the one mentioned in Post#2. So after you use a comparative search engine, check separately at Southwest, especially their “i wanna get away” deals.</p>
<p>You mention the NYC area. Can you be flexible concerning which of 3 airports you use (JFK, LaGuardia, Newark)? In NYC, the major airlines each favor one airport only. Often the airport closest to you isn’t the one with the best airline deal for your destination. It may be worth the time and extra ground-transpo costs to use a different airport.</p>
<p>I knew I was tired this morning…but didn’t realize how tired. My bad…</p>
<p>We are actually coming home on MLK weekend. I think I’ll wait until Tuesday, then take what I can get. Do travel agents have access to seats that don’t show up on the airlines website?</p>
<p>It’s not my experience they have any advantage.</p>
<p>Try every single combination of airports. I live in an area with multiple large airports within a few hours drive, and have to check them all to get the best deal, sometimes flying in one and out of another. </p>
<p>Years ago, a travel agent was helpful, now, if you can find one, not so sure, though they can help you look at the options creatively.</p>
<p>If you are a AAA member, you can have them help you with all aspects of your trip.</p>
<p>SOME times, White Plains and those LI airports are cheaper, ppl travel as far as Kingston to get low fares.</p>
<p>We recently booked travel to South America and called the agency daily to see if any seats opened up for them. They explained that the airline offers them blocks of seats and they offer them to their customers. We paid 900 where if we called the airline it was 1500!
Do you already have accommodations? I went to Cancun a couple of years ago and I booked air and hotel through Spirit out of LGA.</p>
<p>We’re staying in a timeshare, so we only need airfare. Prices today are a little lower, not sure if I should bite or wait until tomorrow. This is sooo stressful!!</p>
<p>You should also check out travel zoo and goto the super search section to check on the flights, its like kayak but with another slant. I booked a flight to Chile using that search and saved over $400 each.</p>
<p>And there are literaly 100’s on line travel searches like travel zoo, hit them as many as you can, perhaps you can save few hundreds for two. Do no limit yourself only in Expedia.com or the airlines.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Soooo…I waited until 3PM today and lo and behold, the prices didn’t change. I guess I just need to bite the bullet and pay through the nose. Next time I’ll plan further ahead.</p>