brockenspectre
20th Jun 2006, 19:50
Due health issues (possible recent-anaesthesia-triggered Parkinson's) I am looking to scoot off to the blessed freedom of chums in Florida for a week. Looking at opodo, expedia, BA, Virgin and other sites there seems to be a fairly static fare available.
How close to departure should one leave it before "blinking" and accepting what is quoted?
Is there always a great last minute fare? OR do the scheduled airlines always have a minimum fare below which they do not sink?
I am looking to travel on Fri/Sat this week to TPA ... so any ideas will be way gratefully received!!! :ok:
Globaliser
21st Jun 2006, 11:21
I'm sorry to hear about the health issues. I hope it proves to be something temporary that you have a quick and full recovery from.
My advice: If you want to travel this coming weekend, do not delay. The overwhelming chances are that the only great fares that will come available between now and then are those that are great for the airline's bottom line. If lower fares aren't available two days before departure, they're unlikely to be brought in between now and then.
As things stand, it looks like you could still get onto BA's non-stop flight on Friday and return the following Friday (30 June) for a total of £457.20. It looks like this is in N class both ways, which is usually BA's lowest public booking class (at least for long haul). But many of the cheapest fares have been sold out for Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday's flights, next Thursday and Friday have been sold out completely in economy, and a new (higher-priced) season comes into force on Saturday 1 July.
I don't know how this compares with what you've already found, though.
Also, I don't know what the charters might be able to do, but this is probably the cheapest scheduled option for your dates; and possibly by far the best value given that it's non-stop scheduled in both directions, and BA is the only non-stop scheduled operator on LON-TPA.