schneider4

Hi -

Change has come to United, so I'm now changing to other airlines. For example, I'm planning a trip from SFO to JFK in late July and am considering Virgin.

When I checked last night, the R/T fare for 7/28 to 8/4 was $280. Today, it's $450 +/-, which is a pretty big change in 24 hours. For those that travel on Virgin frequently, are these types of price fluctuations common? Also, I keep hearing of Virgin promo codes - any suggestions on obtaining one?

Thank you!

Phamer55

Yes, I see big fluctuations like that all the time. I've been following SFO-JFK for July 5th for the past year. Started at around $245 when the schedule came out, slowly went up to around $280 for a long time. It then dropped to around $240 again (including taxes), dropped to $210, then for just a couple of days to $140, until it was raised back up to its current price. Prices often change daily. These are the prices for the cheapest flights - I've seen individual flight time fluctuate as well, where sometimes the 9:15am flight is $100+ more than the others, then suddenly drop back in line with the others. All of this even without tickets being purchased (you can this by looking at the seat map).

tonywestsider

One of the cheapest, most available RT transcon price on VX was $257 between IAD and LAX/SFO. That was awhile ago, where you have to book months early. More recently, VX prices have been one of the most expensive for this route, sometimes going as high as $850, depending on demand and timing.

pipervali

I was wondering that myself. I've been keeping an eye on fares from PHL to LAX for an October trip for myself and three friends. When I first looked it was around the $260 mark, which I wanted to jump on. But my poor(and I emphasize the poor part) friends needed to wait until they got their tax returns to have the cash. I wasn't putting it all on my own credit card and then getting shafted. A few days later I looked and fare was at $480, which sent me into a panic. Now there's a fare for $255 that I really want to book, but two in my party are still short the cash for another week. I hate to think I'm going to hold off, yet again, and it's going to skyrocket back up.

Any idea of waiting for another week, with the fluctuating oil prices, is a death knell for my bank account? I've actually never flown VX, since my home airport is Philly, and from my understanding, they don't even start service out of there until April.