So I finally got my orders and can take leave to go home next Thursday after I graduate. I was shopping for plane tickets and it was a mess. Last week a flight from Wichita Falls to Baltimore was $150 with like 3 connecting flights and a bunch of layovers (so it was like a 12 hour trip when it should be 3). Today pretty much the same flight was $650 on Expedia, Orbitz and Priceline... What the heck happened in one week? Would the tornadoes in Dallas play a role (all the flights from Wichita connect in Dallas since it's a small airport) or is it just timing?

Anyway before I paid $500 extra for my ticket I came across a flight to BWI for $359 through Travelocity. It's a 14 hour trip with an 8 hour layover in Little Rock (and 4 connecting flights) but $300 off is worth the hassle.

So why is it that A- the price jumped so much in a week, and B- every site but Travelocity is $300 more expensive?

Luckily my flight to my first duty station is sitting at $180 on most sites now...What's crazy is that this flight is actually longer than my flight home (Baltimore to Idaho), but whatever.

Stressful crap. I can only hope they let me take all my bags too, with all these connecting flights and crap. I'll probably have 4 bags with about 200 pounds of crap. American Airlines does free checked bags for military but some of my connecting flights are on other airlines. Is it just the policy of the first airline that matters? Hope so, don't want to end up with some crazy fee or anything. lol.

Hate travel already... What svcks is I only have 6 days of leave since I used 12 over Christmas, but it'll be worth it.

From my understanding the price of tickets goes up considerably when there are few remaining seats - it's possible things went up so much in a week because most of the planes passed a certain threshold of occupancy.

Air lines also charge more the sooner the flight leaves. That's so people who don't need to fly but want to fly (elastic demand) will pay less (people who are taking a vacation for example, and can plan ahead) while people who have to fly (inelastic demand) pay more (businessmen who need to get across the country at a moment's notice).

At least that's what my economics professor said a few years ago.

Yep, I was thinking that wouldn't account for the steep rise in price alone but on second thought these flights could have passed some sort of date threshold where they suddenly go from "far off" to "immediate" pricing.

Bah, no good. Lol. I wish I could've bought it when it was $150 but I didn't know whether I'd get orders on time (a ton of people don't).

For future reference, would you say some sites are better pricewise than others or does it vary? I used Orbitz at Christmas and ended up paying a lot more than what other people paid to get to the same area. They ended up sending me a $150 refund check for their price guarantee (it took 3.5 months to arrive) so I think I'm pretty much done with Orbitz...Especially since Travelocity beat them by $300 on this flight... (it's not the exact flight however).

Could it be because it's so close to easter?

Spring Break and easter maybe? Also you clearly crossed the departure sweet spot. If you make a ticket 4 weeks or more in advanced it usually is quite cheap. However 3 sometimes is cheap but can also be expensive too. More a random week and two weeks or less just gets increasingly expensive as you get closer to your departure date. Another thing to consider is airlines are charging more because of fuel costs as well.

In the future make your ticket as soon as you possibly can. Even if you only have a two week warning it will still be cheaper at two weeks than 3 days or something like that before your departure date.

Gas prices went up and because of that airline tickets also went up. Did you try Cheapoair.com?

Yeah...well today was the earliest I could have possibly reserved tickets... lol lame.

Airline tickets from travel agencies, especially the online/discount ones like Orbitz and Expedia, have complex algorithms that change the price of a ticket (this doesn't include the rare, rigid sales) not only depending on supply and demand of tickets available but depending on how often a specific ticket is searched for, how long until the departing flight, time span between flights, and the time of day/week the search occurred. It also has a speculative algorithm that makes the person think the ticket will go faster than it really is, when the person searches again and sees the price going up, making them more desperate and malleable to paying a higher price.. "before it's sold out". Do not fall for it. I'm sure they have other criteria of skyrocketing the price of tickets, but that's their scheme, and I wouldn't be surprised if this is data travel agencies share amongst one another, if not using the same type of ticket pricing software.

If you come across a ticket you want, buy it then and there, otherwise the next time you search the price you saw before is not guaranteed, and likelihood is the price will be different. Search at different times of the day, clear cookies/cache between searches. Also, always compare it to the actual airline's price on their own website.

Why don't you rent a car and drive? I hate flying anymore. I'm a tall fat guy and lately they've put me on those tiny ass MD80 aircraft that are about the size of a Smart car.

Very likely. I got a cheap ticket when I went to Greece last year because the time frame I used(Apr 17). In the summer the hotels and flight prices jump really high.

And to the OP, welcome to flying long distances. Lay overs are your least worries. Hope there isn't delays in any of those connecting flights.

Drive from Texas to Maryland? No thank you. Not only would it be a huge waste of leave, but there's a 500 mile limit per day that we're allowed to drive.

Thanks for all of the advice. I hope none of the flights are delayed as well, I purchased insurance if that helps anything. It says it would only cover $250 in the case of lost baggage. I'll definitely be traveling with more than that :<. Also good to know that the insurance doesn't cover any flight missed due to an act of war...lol...