Question to all the "flying pros" out there

[planner]

Going to Lake Tahoe next Feb. How early would you book a flight? Flying out of Pittsburgh.
Thanks in advance!

 

[DeniseM]

I would start checking prices now to get a good idea of a base price and be ready to "jump" when a good price comes up. As you probably already know, Tahoe only has a little local airport and you will actually be flying into Reno, about 45 min. away - longer in snow conditions.

 

[Dave M]

Do it now!

Check fares over a week or so and then pick the low end of what you see as the approximate fare to target and the day you are most likely to see it, based on your one-week test. Then grab your seats when the fares get close to that target level. Don't expect fares to drop below what you see.

The airlines are just getting started with serious fare increases to recover what appears to be a permanent increase in their fuel costs. Also, there have been very few significant fare sales lately, probably because the incentives for the airlines to offer such sales - significant numbers of empty seats, don't exist!

 

[Dollie]

We are also going to Lake Tahoe next February. After looking at fares, we are going to fly into Sacarmento, CA. The fares we've seen are around $200 less going to Sacarmento. We plan to rent a car (would have also rented one if we flew into Reno). The drive from Sacarmento is about an hour longer than from Reno.

 

[Dottie]

We are also going to be in Tahoe next Feb. We already got plane tickets as they were frequent flyer tickets and even then not east to get on Delta. Is anyone else going to be at Ridge Tahoe between Feb 4 thru 17th?

Dottie

 

[swift]

I second the opinion of flying into Sacramento instead of Reno. Also, if you are going to rent a car make sure you rent a 4WD. Start looking for your car rental now as well. The 4WD will go quick.

 

[DeniseM]

Just remember there may be a TON of snow in February and coming from Sacramento, you have to go over a high mountain pass (Blue Canyon) that often is shut down during storms. Don't try it at night if snow is expected. (Says Denise who has spent the night in a car in Blue Canyon.) In the winter, you are very likely to need a 4WD or snow chains - if you don't have one or the other, the CHP won't let you through if there is snow on the road and rental car companies don't usually allow snow chains.

 

[debraxh]

Just to clarify, blue canyon pass is on hwy 80 between Sacramento and Reno.

From Sacramento to Lake Tahoe you would take hwy 50 which can require chains and be slooooooooow, but rarely is it completely closed.

 

[bigrick]

Keeping Hwy 80 open is a higher priority than Hwy 50. But both can be closed at anytime.

 

[TerriJ]

For the airfare, I would look around now and book as soon as I saw something reasonable. To me, airfare can move like stock prices, and be impacted by factors that can't be controlled.

We flew into Sacramento in late February (nice airport), and even though I had read about the weather on this board, I was surprised at all the talk about the weather between where we stayed and Tahoe. Lots of snow talk while we were there.

 

[camachinist]

Going to Lake Tahoe next Feb. How early would you book a flight? Flying out of Pittsburgh.
Thanks in advance!

Fare Details
 
Departing Airport 	PIT
Arriving Airport 	RNO
Departure Date 	02/10/07
 
Note:
The fares listed do not include airport and/or security fees.
 
Fare Basis 	Airline 	Booking Class 	Trip Type 	Fare 	Effective Date 	Expiration Date 	 
117 Fares Returned
N21E1MZN 	AA 	N 	Round-Trip 	238.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
TE211NNX 	UA 	T 	Round-Trip 	238.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
T21M1BVN 	CO 	T 	Round-Trip 	238.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
SR14BSN 	CO 	S 	Round-Trip 	270.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
SR7DNR 	AA 	S 	Round-Trip 	300.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing

Considering how weather moves through Tahoe, I personally would rather come down from RNO through Carson and up Kingsbury, if driving to Heavenly/South Lake, rather than that long, grueling drive up 50 from SMF. The east side is drier and usually sees much less snow. Donner/Truckee is a no-brainer; definitely RNO, IMO.

I agree with Dave. If you can find seats at the fares I've listed above, buy them now. If you're traveling President's Day weekend, anything under 300 all-in bears scrutiny IMO.

Pat

 

[Werner]

Pat, It all depends on the starting point. The reason Sacramento is so tempting for those of us in New England is that for the same time frame, Feb '07, Boston to Reno costs $501, while Boston to Sacramento is $320 (using ITA). That's a big difference. Its about the same from Burlington, Vt. The question is how much risk and aggravation to put up with to save almost $200 per ticket.

I looked at FareCompare

http://www.farecompare.com

They have 2 years worth of price history for 30 day advanced purchases that shows prices coming down by about $75 in late summer through fall each year. This year may be different, of course, with $74 / bbl oil. There is no upslope to the history line, only peaks and valleys. It is very tempting to wait it out.

 

[camachinist]

Hi Werner,

We Flyertalker's (specifically the mileage runners like myself) have been helping FareCompare refine their software and I've been using their tool since before the AZ YYZ-LCA fare issue. It's a great tool, but can often be misleading.

I looked at the airports within reasonable range to PIT and also to/from SMF for the date ranges and compared to RNO. I didn't see anything that would justify the drive on either end, by the criteria I use for mileage running. I don't like posting too much information, since I feel that would be an abuse of my subscription. Given the market parameters (fuel costs up and LCC hedges ending) and time of year (I'm assuming the holiday in February), along with the popularity of the destination at that time of year, my instincts are that prior recent years will not be indicative of future results. Of course, the flexibility of the flyer matters and remains to be seen here. I'm very flexible and that's how I get the deals I do.

Best of luck!

Pat

 

[Werner]

Pat, I have no idea what a "milage runner" is!

 

[camachinist]

Pat, I have no idea what a "milage runner" is!

Dave and/or PatH can probably give you a better explanation, but mine is someone who rides on airplanes specifically for the purpose of accumulating miles and status on airlines.

For example, I flew a bit over 50,000 miles in March and collected around 200K miles (and achieved mid-tier elite status on my airline) for around 3.5 cents per mile flown. It was a combination of trips to Asia, Australia and domestic transcons. We mileage runners are perrenially cheap, which is why you see FareCompare formatted the way it is. Interestingly (to me anyway), one of their principals published the YYZ-LCA deal (39.00 CAD for business air to Cyprus from Toronto), then has offered to provide a software solution to the airlines for catching these issues before publication. Pretty savvy

Pat

 

[planner]

Just wanted to say thanks for all of your input!!
Planner