USA Earlybird Airfares

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  RockyRaccoon on 08/09/2014 - 14:33

  I think you are a bit late for these, the earlybird fares went away years ago.

  Its now dealt with by load management software.

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  tubbytuesday on 09/09/2014 - 11:27

  +1

  Years ago?? Pretty sure they are still around, just saw some for Europe. What the hell is load management software?

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    RockyRaccoon on 09/09/2014 - 13:57

    Its an algorithm that tells them lower the price, as the flight sales to that region are below average, so they need to increase the incentive to book. Likewise if there are too many bookings during that timeframe they up the price.

    It's sort of automatic, that way they maximise the return for each flight.

    I think you confuse sales which are on at different times for earlybird rates.

    My friends just left for the US and their fares booked "early" were 300-400 more than deals posted here a few months ago for the same travel timeframe

    If you are traveling outside of school holidays here and Summer hols in US (mid jun- late aug) you will find better deals.

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  freo on 11/09/2014 - 13:43

  Earlybirds still exist, I just saw them advertised on the STATravel.com.au website. However in this instance, they are Europe only. USA is pretty much fixed for high and low season, $1100 low season, $2000+ for high season.

  January 17th is the first day of the lower season for 2015, for most airlines Melbourne/Sydney to LA. Prices are $1000 cheaper than the day before!

  http://www.statravel.com.au/early-birds.htm

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    RockyRaccoon on 12/09/2014 - 05:03

    I stand corrected, and thanks for pointing that out.

    I guess it's just that earlybird fares used to be the cheapest way to buy tickets, so in that aspect these fares are really not the same as before, when buying these meant you got the cheapest fare.

    Now the cheapest fares are load managed. So buying 6 months in advance, coughing up the funds so far ahead doesnt always guarantee the cheapest rates.

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  nissa on 12/09/2014 - 18:53

  Don't know that there`s really any hard and fast rule these days but we bought our flights to US with United flying the new dreamliner, about 330 days before the return.
  http://my.yapta.com/mytrips/trip/?id=3227444#itin-8442393 You can follow price fluctuations on this site.

  We paid about US$1200 and is now over US$2000 but Im sure will jump around lots more. We bought it on Expedia.com rather than au because they were cheaper. Flew unexpectedly to US also in mid June this year booking a month beforehand. Qantas had the best prices on STA. I paid $1700 but for 24 hours it was down to $1300, an example of load management I expect but the day it dropped I wasnt ready
  Just keep looking and grab a price that seems good.