Flights to LA - Help Needed

rustmonster_2

I'm currently planing on meeting up with a friend of mine who is travelling across America when he reached LA next month. I was hoping for some advice on when best to book the flights to get the best deal. I have no commitments and my friend will be in LA for a month so I am very flexible about dates and times. Should I book the flights now for the best deal? Have I left it too late? Should I leave it later? Is it possible to phone the airline on the day or the day before I plan to leave and ask for any left over seats or can I arrive at the airport and be put on standby for the next available flight and will I get a cheaper flight this way?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Woby_Tide

certainly not too late but may be worth just looking round various flight websites to get an idea of price, maybe even try a consolidator like trailfinders and state about your flexibility and see what they come up with. Standby flights are pretty much non-existant unless you work for an airline nowadays, there a re a couple of other topics on this board around that subject. If you ring the airline on the day or the day before and ask about leftover seats you'll get put through to reservations and pay the going rate.

saveapenny

http://travel.mobissimo.com/travel/search_airfare.php

Another option would be to get a flight to the cheapest airport in the US you can get then use internal flights on one of the lowcost airlines http://www.evasions.com/airlines1.htm

rustmonster_2

saveapenny wrote:

http://travel.mobissimo.com/travel/search_airfare.php

Another option would be to get a flight to the cheapest airport in the US you can get then use internal flights on one of the lowcost airlines http://www.evasions.com/airlines1.htm

Thanks for that I hadn't thought of trying it but will have a look into it.

daveossy

we vare going out to LA in August
We booked the flights last year and the best deal we could get was with BMI from Manchester £270 cheaper per person than BA or Virgin.
OK we have to change in Chicago but we only have to drive across to Manchester and not down to London, the difference being the same as the stopover time.
Last time I looked the same flight is now double what we paid so I would advise you to look now