Jaunted

HOWTO: Hedge Those Airfares

5/12/2008 at 4:03 PM
Tags: HOWTO, Airfares, Airfare Deals, Rick Seaney, Airlines (all tags)

Have you tried to book an airline ticket lately? They're getting expensive! But without a miraculous drop in the price of oil, fares are only gonna go up this summer.

Luckily, airfare obsessive Rick Seaney has a terrific tip for keeping your costs down as prices go up: Hedge. Usually it's detrimental to buy plane tickets more than about six weeks before your departure. But Rick says this summer, you're better off locking in a price now before fuel surcharges--and prices--go up yet again.

We love this tip because it's so insider-y. Airlines do the same thing when buying fuel; it's been helping the bottom lines at Southwest and JetBlue for years. If you're gonna stay within your summer travel budget, better get booking now.

Of course, we should mention that there's always the chance that fares will end up dropping on your particular route, but that's the risk you take when you're playing the oil futures market. Hey, now you know how the airlines feel!

Related Stories:
· Attention Summer Travelers: Hedge [Rick Seaney]
· Airlines Finally Passing Higher Costs on to Passengers [Jaunted]
· Airfares coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Fetchy]