travel questions

I recently returned from South Korea to see my first and only grandson and family. I would like to return during the Christmas holidays. My travel agent suggested I purchase my tickets now as availability may be limited. I am uneasy about such an early purchase considering all the threats, etc. going on. No refund. We're talking over a thousand dollars. What are your thoughts? Thanks a million (or thousand?)

From what I understand, if you drive to and from the airport, that trip is far more dangerous.

I would be more afraid of buying the tickets only to have the airline declare bankruptsy.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

I certainly wouldn't rush a purchase for a December flight. As far as I know, acts of terror are not covered by insurance, so you would likely lose your money if the planes were grounded again and you missed your trip, even if you purchased trip insurance. The policy I looked at specifically excluded acts of war and terror. (I am traveling to Africa.) I plan to wait until quite a bit closer to my departure date to see what the situation is. I haven't seen any evidence that I would get a greatly discounted fare by bidding this far in advance for a ticket; if anything, the fares are still a bit high. So my vote is to wait and see...unless $1,000 per person is an unusually low fare for Korea? I don't know the prices to that area. I suspect that you will still be able to get bargain prices closer to your departure date, especially if the gov't keeps pumping out the terror warnings.

This is just my opinion. If someone has a better opinion, I am open to changing my mind, but right now I am inclined to defer my own purchase.

$1000 is about the going price for 1 person round trip. I really don't want to get the ticket now. So, I'll wait. In 5 months who knows what will be going on!

I am planning a trip to San Diego in November, and the prices will vary this far out. I was told once, that the way that airline pricing works is when the flight first goes on sale, tickets are rather expensive because there are few people on the flight. As the flight begins to fill, the tickets drop in price because they are trying to fill the flight. As the flight gets more full, the tickets get more expensive again, because they become a desirable commodity.

My advice would be to check online a couple times per week (on orbitz, expedia, travelocity, and cheaptickets.com) to keep abreast of the current fares. You can also track trends in the prices this way. Based on this you can get an idea of what is happening to ticket prices, and when you feel comfortable with the price, then if you want to use a travel agent, you can call them up, and order the tickets from them. The prices will be slightly different, but they should be in the ballpark.

good bargains there and have bought tickets a couple times. Get to know the system, keep an eye on the additional charges and the limitations.. I love the site. If you're diligent you can get some real deals.