Expert: Matthew Smith - 10/27/2011

Question
Hello Matthew:

I am planning a trip to Chihuahua,Mexico from Fort Wayne,IN (round trip) from December 13,2011 to January.

I couldn't make plans before as I was waiting to know from my company about my vacation days. For air ticket monitoring and alerts I am using yapta which I have found very useful.

I was told that the first days of the week (Monday and Tuesday) are the ones with the best fares but so far the price has been going up and then down by only a few dollars.

What would you recommend to do?

The price right not is close to $1,200 dollars round trip.

Should I go ahead and purchase the tickets or maybe wait a little bit more to see if they go down.

I know that there is no definite answer for this question but you may shed some light.

Thanks for your help,
Roberto

Answer
Hi Roberto,

Yes, it's true that Tuesdays are typically cheaper (not Mondays because it's a heavy business travel day). If you see the price fluctuating a few dollars a few times a day, that is the normal course of business.

I cannot tell you exactly what to do, but I do recommend that you buy the ticket through a website that has a guarantee that if the price goes down after you buy the ticket, they will refund you the difference. I know of at least one website that does that, but I don't think I can mention them by name because it might be construed as advertising for them. Anyway, go to different websites and look for that guarantee.

Generally speaking, it is better to buy sooner rather than later because as you get closer to the day of travel, the inventory management system will automatically knock prices up--often by a LOT of money.

Sorry I can't give you an exact course of action, but consider the two things I've mentioned: sooner is better than later, and go to the website with the price guarantee, just in case the price goes down (which it really does).

Good luck.

Matt