Originally Posted by
pofriri
I am based in NYC. My strategy is to book MC very early on, maybe 6 months out or more. I check fares through refare-ing daily (change flights option on the itinerary page). I try refare-ing each leg and then round trip. This strategy has worked for me quite well. For example, I booked JFK-MAD r/t in MC for mid-May. Total fare in D1 was $3300 after refare-ing. I see that for this time of year, these flights can go for $6000+ in D1.
I have a trip next month, one way to Bilbao and the return from Athens. I initially booked in MC in January and gradually refared to D1 over the past few months. I was at about $4,700 r/t in D1, but then I got a magical $800 eCredit because I checked the fares every day.
This requires time and planning, but it works. Good luck and I hope this helps.
The reason a trip in mid-May is going to cost a lot right now is because of the advance purchase requirements on Z fares and the fact we are only a couple weeks out from mid-May. Lack of flights that still have Z open will be another issue, but even if there are flights with Z open, you won't be able to book Z fares if you don't meet advance purchase requirements for them.
An ExpertFlyer account only costs $10 (you can also get a 5 day free trial for initial account) and will save you a lot of time if you have flexibility. The cheapest D1 fares on JFK-MAD right now are the July 9th - August 31st ZNX82SDA summer fares mentioned above, followed by the holiday period ZJN72SDD fares also noted above (which only have a 7 day AP but are heavily seasonally restricted to holiday periods). All-in pricing on these fares with taxes are in the $2900 - $3300 range roundtrip. To see cheapest fares, select the "Show Fares for All Travel Dates" box.
