Airfare prices lowering booked guest count!

Duchess · 07-22-2008, 05:41 AM

Uhg!!! ANyone else having major problems with the cost of airfare? I booked mine in Puerto Vallarta during the high season, but even last year tickets from Ohare were about $500 if booked early. Now with taxes, over $1000 and that is even with a stop over in Mexico City!!!

Any other brides dealing with the same thing? Any tips and hints, or insights from travel agents about what prices might do in the next few weeks or months?

Thanks!

Kriswim · 07-22-2008, 06:20 AM

Totally! Airfare to Cancun used to be like $250-300 from Boston, now its like double! Argh! Our "cheap" destination wedding is getting to be expensive! (we have airline vouchers we are using) but our family is freaking - they are still going but its just more difficult!

2bebridejamaica · 07-22-2008, 06:25 AM

I totally feel it too. We had 23 people booked orig and now we are down to 14 since the economy and prices were just too much for them. Boston to Jamaica is normally 350 tops with a stop in Miami.. but now they are almost 500.

Go and check out Kayak.com You can watch fare prices from EVERY airline to your destination. It has been really helpful and we still watch since we have some stragglers and only 3 1/2 months left. Hope this helps.

Maura · 07-22-2008, 06:36 AM

jamie we had the same issue - when we first told our guests we were doing a DW back in november of 07, the price to fly to cabo was about $500-600 depending on the airline. from LA, it was about $300 for a nonstop flight. we told people to book early, we warned them airfare prices were going to get hiked several times, but a lot of people didnt listen and decided theyd wait til last min to book to see if prices dropped. i thought they were really stupid for doing that. now, it costs over $1,000 for ONE ticket to fly to cabo for our wedding. (my parents booked early and paid $1,000 for two tickets) from LA, my aunt waited until like 2 weeks ago, and paid $750, yes you read that correctly - $750to fly to cabo from los angeles. truth be told if most of the guests from the US who said it was too expensive to go had booked their tickets before april, it would have been totally affordable.

Duchess · 07-22-2008, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maura

the price to fly to cabo was about $500-600 depending on the airline. from LA, it was about $300 for a nonstop flight.

Yep I did an all inclusive to Cabo from LA in Nov 2006 and it was like 700 bucks for everything!

I just had envisioned this huge fun party but now I am thinking it isnt going to as big. It just ends up being weird because some friends booked thinking others were going to, but then the others may not. Might end up being family with a few random friends. I guess thats okay too.

Yari · 07-22-2008, 09:21 AM

People might surprise you, they might be monitoring the rates and buy when you least expect it.

I pretty much made my bridal party buy their tickets in January. They are so happy that they listened to me. My aunt waited until last month and it cost her $1000 for two tickets from San Diego to PV. Craziness!

nicoleandscott · 07-22-2008, 11:02 AM

airfare is driving me nuts! half of our guests took the advice to buy their tickets about 3 months ago, but the other half are having to shell out some major cash now....

i feel so bad!!

KLC77 · 07-22-2008, 11:29 AM

This is definitely an issue for people waiting to book for our wedding. We have some friends telling us they are going to do it and one of the friends mom's was like- what are you waiting for? it to be as expensive as possible? just book the damn thing! Airfare is going up and up. We told people the rates being offered were for a limited time so I don't really feel that bad for anyone who wanted to wait and see what would happen. My sister hasn't booked yet and money is definitely tight for her. I'm expecting her to not end up going because she waited and now it will be even more expensive.

pvinnov · 07-22-2008, 11:08 PM

I was freaking out about airline prices from California (SFO, SJC) to Puerto Vallarta because they spiked up to over $700 a couple weeks ago. I thought a few relatives who hadn't purchased (but were intending to) would be priced out, but GOOD NEWS!!!

I found November tickets tonight and booked for 2 of my cousins. The tickets were $420 on American Airlines. That's not as low as what some guests got who were on the ball in March, but it's pretty damn good after that $700 scare.

So, for anyone with guests w/o a ticket yet, go check TODAY! Plus don't forget to search for Orbitz and Cheapticket coupon codes for air+hotel packages. I have all my guests use the $75 off coupon if they book on those sites.

(Btw, I was booking around 10:30pm tonight and a few times when I was searching I noticed the prices go down so maybe systems were updating prices?? Maybe the falling oil prices are finally having an impact...)

roxy08 · 07-23-2008, 08:53 AM

I know for a fact many of the people not coming to our wedding can't make it because they're put off by the cost of flights. We're super bummed about it, even our families are giving us a hard time. Who knew a year ago when we started planning that prices would get this insane?!

We've been monitoring the prices very close but not much luck lately. The good news is that gas prices are dropping - hopefully it give us all a little break. I'll post any deals I find.

It's been very hard not to get too down from everyone's complaining about costs. At this point there's nothing we can do about it...