We are getting married in early October and flying out for St. Lucia on a Sunday. We already book the accommodations but have held off on the airfare to see if we can get a lower price.

I've been checking airfare prices daily and it's amazing how up and down they go. On top of that apparently we picked one of the most expensive islands to fly to. On top of that my fiance also thinks we should splurge this time and go first class so I'm not icing down my knees to two days when we get there and after the return home.

Our airline options are basically American and Delta. Delta would be Comfort+ out and First Class back. AA would be Business Class round trip.

Does anyone have any experience with either of these airfare levels? Are they worth it? Also, will prices drop after the 4th of July?

It depends on the plane if the business/first upgrade is worth it.
Personally, the upgraded-cattle class is a waste of money (and I'm gold on AA, so I usually get it free). I look for aisle seats in a row with an open seat, that gets you a better chance of having more space than a full exit row.

Try checking with a different computer/browser - I can't prove it, but I tried on a phone less than 5 minutes after a computer that I'd use to look at fares daily & got much cheaper. I suspect they use cookies to know who is checking fares.

With the AA cancellations in the news lately, I’d look at Delta. As far as pricing goes, I’ve only booked domestic travel in the past month. When I was 2 plus weeks out, it was cheaper, but not by much. About 15%. I wouldn’t wait too long, because you’re not traveling in coach and you need to be there. Have you tracked the price changes in Google?

If you search the same routes every day, the fare will keep going up. The booking engines' software prices flights according to how serious your travel plans look. Keep punching in the same dates and routes and they know you're serious. You're better off clearing your browsing history before each search. I have heard the best price is general 54 days out.

quote:

Originally posted by funnymech:
With the AA cancellations in the news lately, I’d look at Delta. As far as pricing goes, I’ve only booked domestic travel in the past month. When I was 2 plus weeks out, it was cheaper, but not by much. About 15%. I wouldn’t wait too long, because you’re not traveling in coach and you need to be there. Have you tracked the price changes in Google?

I do have Google Flights tracking prices but I have yet to get any updates.

Yeah, I've been watching the AA situation. We are going to Vegas in 2 weeks and we are suppose to be flying AA as of right now.

I tried pricing cheaper airlines or even driving to the connecting airport and then catching AA or Delta for direct to St. Lucia and it's the same price if not more.

JetBlue flies direct to St. Lucia...out of JFK airport and I don't how much we are going to save I will not drive up to JFK.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Lee:
If you search the same routes every day, the fare will keep going up. The booking engines' software prices flights according to how serious your travel plans look. Keep punching in the same dates and routes and they know you're serious. You're better off clearing your browsing history before each search. I have heard the best price is general 54 days out.

Does that rule apply if you go directly to the airlines websites?

When my wife fly's to see the grand kids in Maui she starts checking air fares early. Looks like you're doing that. When you see what seems like a good price, book it! Waiting usually means you'll miss the deal.

quote:

Originally posted by Bytes:
When my wife fly's to see the grand kids in Maui she starts checking air fares early. Looks like you're doing that. When you see what seems like a good price, book it! Waiting usually means you'll miss the deal.

When I started looking for airfare I did see a good deal but I thought I had time, didn't know that prices change multiple times per day.

We are going through a travel agent, she said she is watching prices for all her clients but if I see something we are good with to text her right away next time.

When you see a price that’s fair and you can afford book it and stop checking after that.

quote:

Originally posted by kx90:
Does that rule apply if you go directly to the airlines websites?

I'm sure. They all use some kind of third party booking platform. When I was in the biz five yrs ago, Amadeus and Sabre were the biggest players. There are more now. But they all use them because, in addition to filling their flights, they can squeeze more fare dollars out of customers.

Interesting. Does everyone see the same price as it rises or is it unique to each person/PC?

Now that I've never tried. I've played the Ticketmaster game on multiple laptops before, but that was a matter of getting good seats at face value. With flights it's a matter of getting A seat at a better price.

quote:

Originally posted by kx90:
Our airline options are basically American and Delta. Delta would be Comfort+ out and First Class back. AA would be Business Class round trip.

Does anyone have any experience with either of these airfare levels? Are they worth it? Also, will prices drop after the 4th of July?

I fly First Class exclusively and for me it's worth it, but YMMV. Take a look at the difference in meals and drink options for all classes of flights, look at the legroom (you can check it on SeatGuru). Think about the fact that in First Class you'll be first on, first off if that makes any difference to you.
Normally, they offer you a drink as soon as you sit down in First Class. Also, most first class is 2 x 2 x 2 so the only person sitting next to you will be your significant other, which is something you might especially like as a newlywed.

I buy my tickets way in advance because I not only want First Class, but I want certain seats. Which seats depends on where I'm going and what we pass over as I like looking out the windows at what's below.

Plus I've never met a woman who didn't absolutely love First Class.

We fly business class on AA when flights are more than 3 hours. We usually get a glass of champagne when we board and on overnight flights have a relatively nice bed to sleep on.

Not cheap but we arrive with much less jet lag and that’s worth something to us.