Questions and Answers

My girlfriend came up with a fun idea for a 4-5 day weekend later this year – go the airport (JFK) and see what the cheapest flight we can find is. As much as I like this idea, the traveler in me will absolutely research flights beforehand (but don’t tell her that).

But this got me thinking – I have only purchased a ticket at the airport once in my life. I have traveled extensively, but been very lucky thus far to have only had that one time where I needed to do that. So, in general, is it cheaper to buy tickets at the airport? (Forget Spirit and their deal, that’s not happening.) Or do airlines generally charge much more that last minute/service fees/etc.?

Usually the latter. Fares are almost always higher last minute.

The thing with Spirit is that you’re saving a certain [I]fee[/I] by buying at the airport. It doesnt necessarily mean the fare itself is lower. You could be buying a last minute ticket for Spirit and yes you’re saving on the fee but the overall fare itself may be higher than if you were to have bought the same ticket in advance.