Air Fare Peace of Mind: Never Look Back

No one numbers such things, but one top ranking Rule of Travel should be: never look back.

At air fares.

No matter what air fare you settle upon, a better one will be found later. Or a worse one. Or both, at the very same moment.

Such is the mad world of air fares that we are advised to make our choice and forget about it. Never look back. You’ll eat your heart out.

I bought tickets to Florida for January for the Grand and Glorious Occasion of the Marriage of Timothy Horgan and Hillary Wasch. Hooray. I  ordered the tickets some months ago, not much wanting to risk the most distant chance of missing such an important and cherished event.

I got them at a fair price. Let’s say the price was $225. Since that time I have seen the same route being sold at $180. And $280. And $360. And $201. And $250. And … you get the picture. I bought them on an airline that charges luggage fees. Since, I have found them at just a little higher than I paid but on Southwest, which does not charge the luggage fees.

The Whack-a-moley of airfares will drive you nuts if you take it too seriously. No sooner do you make your purchase then a sale is announced that makes you feel like a dope for being so hasty. For all the talk of airline prices being sky high, there are always sales and bargains of various sorts. Southwest has just opened up another sale — which others have now followed — that offers excellent values, and which will reduce you clopping your forehead if you’ve bought something already. It is like trying to grab a handful of a river.

Forget about it.

Unless a savings is gigantic, you’ll lose your mind trying to chase after every dollar floating the in the wind.

If you can delay and wait before buying, you most often can find bargains as the air carriers compete so vigorously. But there are other times when it is simply best to buy the thing and Never Look Back. Am I going to gamble to save a few dollars and clutter up the possibility of getting to the ceremony on time for my son’s marriage? I am not.

Now, if I could only be strong enough to follow my own advice: never look back.

Denis Horgan

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