# What are you paying for airfare this year?



## johnsontrio (Mar 4, 2014)

Wondering if airfare to Cancun is going to be way higher than usual this year and when to purchase.  Most years we are somewhere in the $400 range, with an all time low of $365.  I have been checking our ticket price Detroit to Cancun weekly since September.  It started  at $642.37 and hit a high of $891 in February.  This morning it was $575 and I'm tying to decide if it's going to go much lower.  Looking at the seat map very few tickets have been sold.  I've been trying to look at a few weeks earlier than we go to see when those tickets drop, but a late Easter coupled with Memorial Day hasn't helped.  

We have Spirit and now AirTran serving our market as well as connections through American and US Airways but it hasn't brought ticket prices down that I can tell.

What has your experience been buying tickets this year?


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## holdaer (Mar 4, 2014)

Glad you are asking this question.  I was wondering the same thing.  We're flying into Cancun 6/14 out of Houston and United rates right now are $728RT.  Best rates I've found so far is with Aeromexico for $428RT.


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## SMHarman (Mar 5, 2014)

90-59 days out is supposed to be the sweet spot. 

Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk


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## Gussie (Mar 5, 2014)

Usually purchase tickets to Cancun in February for a December trip, but not this year.  Prices are the highest I have seen. 

I am waiting and watching.  Maybe a different trip is in the cards.


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## topmom101 (Mar 5, 2014)

My daughter expressed an interest in a Cancun vacation with her boyfriend. We started looking at rentals and were thrilled to find a good deal at the Royal Sands (my favorite resort). When she checked airfare, flights from JFK were almost $800 per person.  Last time I flew to Cancun, 2 years ago, I paid less than $350.  She decided to go on a cruise instead.

BTW, I recently saw a story on the evening news that said the best time to book airfare is 54 days before your departure.


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## pittle (Mar 5, 2014)

I have noticed that the flights to Cancun & Cabo from Phoenix are higher this year than last too. There have been some increases in TSA fees this year.

I pulled the trigger on non-stop flights from Phoenix to PVR a couple of weeks ago because the tickets had dropped $100 each - they are now back up. We always return on the Saturday after Thanksgiving - premium $ date, so we paid $676.50 each.  Last year they never dropped lower than $626.50 for the same flights and were in the $777 - $825 range most of the time.


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## urban5 (Mar 5, 2014)

Out of Boston for January travel rt nonstop is running around $435, one stop around $400.  Current prices for Southwest which is now flying to Cancun for Oct travel is less than $400 rt.  Will be interesting to see if Southwest prices when schedule is extended into the winter season.  I usually buy one ways and got BOS to CUN for $195 nonstop, just waiting for return date to open.

Also noticed that Delta stops its nonstop from BOS after the first week in Jan.


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## M&M (Mar 5, 2014)

holdaer said:


> Glad you are asking this question.  I was wondering the same thing.  We're flying into Cancun 6/14 out of Houston and United rates right now are $728RT.  Best rates I've found so far is with Aeromexico for $428RT.



We're from Houston also. United's prices are too high (over $700), but we were able to book FunJet Non Stop charter on AeroMexico for $519.


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## johnsontrio (Mar 5, 2014)

*Thank you for all your replies.*  Today checking one way down to CUN each week until our departure date, the fares vary from $329.52 to $232.52 with the cheapest being 87 days prior to travel.  Doesn't seem to be affected by the number of seats already sold according to the seat chart.  I've made myself a little chart and will be checking frequently.  Using todays information, our fares should be best around March 18th.  I don't want to spend a ton of money on the tickets, but flying non-stop is worth something, especially since our return flight is always delayed.  Not really interested in saving $50 and making connections.


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## SMHarman (Mar 5, 2014)

skyscanner is a nice app to put on your smartphone.  It will reprice your intended reservations daily (or more often if you hit refresh) and you can see when prices are dropping.

Interesting charting also.


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## mlwlpt (Mar 13, 2014)

I paid $461 in Nov. for Detroit to Cancun  I paid $515 last year.   Heard six months out was the best time and it seemed to work this time.


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## Bourne (Mar 14, 2014)

Check every day. Mine was presumably a short term blip. I got notified by Kayak and jumped on it.

I ended up getting $251 roundtrip direct on AA from ORD-CUN for first week of Feb back in Nov-Dec timeframe.


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## BC Bum (Mar 14, 2014)

I paid over $650 for non stop from the outrageously expensive Newark, NJ for the end of May. I bought one ticket and used miles for the another. If its not cheaper next year, I will have to rethink going at all.


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## Seaport104 (Mar 14, 2014)

Bourne said:


> Check every day. Mine was presumably a short term blip. I got notified by Kayak and jumped on it.



Airfare has definitely rised in the past few years. I remember when you could get to Cancun from New York area for $300 nonstop RT. Nowaways, I'm ecstatic with $400-$450 nonstop!

Kayak.com is awesome! Sign up and they have a flex month reature where you enter the # of days you are looking to go and it scans the available flights and costs of departure on those dates. 

Also, if you have fixed dates, set up an alert to notify you daily of any change via email so you can jump on it! Sometimes airfare drops for a day and comes right up.


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## pjrose (Mar 14, 2014)

People we know from Detroit just booked ~$610 for nonstop to CUN end of June.  

We're looking at ~$500-$550 from Harrisburg, Baltimore, or Washington same time.  Fortunately we have miles for at least 1-way


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## GregGH (Mar 14, 2014)

hi

anyone use this ....

http://www.faredetective.com/farehistory/

you can get a chart of fares ....

here is sample for DTW to Cancun

GH


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## Carta (Mar 16, 2014)

When pricing; Keep in mind; United Airlines does not charge for checked baggage when going to CUN..That's a savings of $100 when traveling w/ spouse..

Just got back from CUN on friday....paid $536 from AVP (one connecting flight)...

FANTASTIC  2 weeks


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## johnsontrio (Apr 8, 2014)

*Update*

Posting an update in case others are trying to get a handle on their ticket prices and determining when to buy. 

I began checking prices on the 9th of September as one year I bought them for $365 RT the day they became available.

Sept 9 ~ $642.37

checking weekly on Tuesdays, hit a low of $610.58 on November 12th.  Same tickets hit a high of $891 on Feb 25th.  Using the advice I received here, I began checking daily on March 17th.  The tickets varied from $632 to $777, getting higher the last couple weeks.  Today is 65 days before travel and I booked at $630 for the 2 nonstop flights.  They may drop a little lower, but I am fatigued by all this effort looking at these tickets and any alternative arrangements. 

I was hoping they would drop to $464 which is the lowest price for Sat to Sat 2 weeks before we go but they haven't even gotten near that.  I have also checked flights out of Nashville (easy to connect with Southwest), Cleveland, Cincinnati and Chicago.  Gave small consideration to flying into Cozumel and taking the ferry.  Also checked connecting flights on Delta, US Air, United, American etc.. although many have ridiculously long layovers and don't save you much money.

The good news is I can stop looking.   The bad news is no $400 RT to Cancun this year.  

Hope this helps someone else looking for airfare.


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## musictom (Apr 9, 2014)

From SFO-CUN, we generally have been paying in the $400-450 range. That's with one stop. Nonstops are fairly non-existant along that route.

This year, everything is $600 and more. AeroMexico had a few in the $580 range, but inconvenient times, and we haven't had great luck flying with them in the past. 

I try to get at least one leg each way in economy plus, but that's going to add another $100-150 to my price, putting it closer to $800. For $950, I can fly United Business class. 

Hmmm, I may have talked myself into something, haha!


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## Sugarcubesea (Apr 9, 2014)

johnsontrio said:


> Wondering if airfare to Cancun is going to be way higher than usual this year and when to purchase.  Most years we are somewhere in the $400 range, with an all time low of $365.  I have been checking our ticket price Detroit to Cancun weekly since September.  It started  at $642.37 and hit a high of $891 in February.  This morning it was $575 and I'm tying to decide if it's going to go much lower.  Looking at the seat map very few tickets have been sold.  I've been trying to look at a few weeks earlier than we go to see when those tickets drop, but a late Easter coupled with Memorial Day hasn't helped.
> 
> We have Spirit and now AirTran serving our market as well as connections through American and US Airways but it hasn't brought ticket prices down that I can tell.
> 
> What has your experience been buying tickets this year?



I'm going to AZ from Detroit in July for a family reunion and the prices have not come down since December on any of the watch's I subscribe to.  It just seems like it's costing a lot more this year for air travel.


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## Passepartout (Apr 9, 2014)

If you have been paying attention to prices at your neighborhood gas station, it will tell you more about what a flight will cost (comparatively) than all the fare-watchers you can subscribe to.

There may be an occasional sale for a few hours you can catch with some luck, but overall, fuel prices drive airfares. And fuel isn't going down. 

This is not to say you shouldn't be on the lookout for one of those sales.

Jim


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## holdaer (Apr 9, 2014)

Well, I guess it could be one of two things.  Per Marketwatch.com, avg US retail gas prices in 2013 was $3.49.  That's about the price here in Houston.  Or it could be the consolidation of airlines driving prices up to get their ROI.  Either way, I'm bummed that airfare from Houston to Cancun has barely moved this year.


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## M&M (Apr 9, 2014)

holdaer said:


> Well, I guess it could be one of two things.  Per Marketwatch.com, avg US retail gas prices in 2013 was $3.49.  That's about the price here in Houston.  Or it could be the consolidation of airlines driving prices up to get their ROI.  Either way, I'm bummed that airfare from Houston to Cancun has barely moved this year.



The Continental/United Merger definitely impacted the price of flights out of Houston especially on routes with little competition. Try flying United IAH-ORD with anything less than 3 nights stay and you'll see what I mean, it's a lot more than even IAH-CUN. 

We found a decent rate to CUN via Expedia to fly Funjet using AeroMexico (direct) for $540 which is $150/person cheaper than United for the same dates and time of day.


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## pjrose (Apr 12, 2014)

15K miles round trip from Harrisburg


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## jbuzzy11 (Apr 12, 2014)

I pull my kids from school 2 or 3 days early so we don't get hammered on week 7 prices, schools are on vacation that week in the northeast. I'm looking now and they are just about $430.00 pp direct and nonstop out of JFK in NY, I would take it but I have 4 rapid rewards tickets on southwest and they now fly out of Longisland isp to CUN, Only thing is SW & airtran don't open there schedule up till about 6 months before and those seats are limited, I have to try and jump on it as soon as the schedule opens for February and it's killing me!


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## jbuzzy11 (Apr 12, 2014)

Check google.com/flights it's a great tool that shows you the trending prices up and down... It's fantastic


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## huenix (Apr 13, 2014)

$404 RT PIT-CUN leaving early July and I was kinda happy to see that. Same flights right now are $504. But its US Airways so Im paying $25 per bag each way. I already explained to the kids that we are taking two suitcases for the family, and they can each carry a bag on.


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## vettebuf (Apr 18, 2014)

We're flying Spirit out of ACY in September for about $150 plus Spirit miles. I had flown them to Orlando in November and signed up for the card when I flew them to FLL in January. The bonus and existing miles and one month's cc bill got me over 20K miles - enough for 2 tickets to Cancun. That was enough to make me decide when and where to use my Royal Holiday week that I had to use by October.

Someone told me years ago to get the free Spirit and Southwest cc's. Maybe I'll ask my husband to trade in his Barclay USAirways MC for a SW cc when it expires.


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## cubigbird (Apr 19, 2014)

I just got ours for $413 (after taxes) RT non-stop DEN-CUN for Christmas week on UNITED believe it or not.


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