For obvious reasons airline travel is cheap right now. I've never flown before, I don't really understand how travel works but would like to buy tickets cheap and then use them when things get back to normal later.
Is that possible? How would one go about doing that?
Posted Apr 10, 2020, 7:58 PM UTC
You can, but you won't save money by doing it. Full fare refundable tickets can be changed whenever you like, but they are more expensive that the discounted fares 99% of people actually buy. A discounted fare might get you from LA to NYC for $300, but you can't change the dates. A fully refundable fare in economy class would be $1000 or more.
you would get a credit for a similar priced flight in the future, not the same flight if the price goes up later.
Usually the airline sells tickets for a specific time and seat. Not just "here's a ticket just swing by when you're ready." Even if you get a refund, usually they give you your money back and you have to buy the new ticket at market price (unless if it is a mistake on their end). Refunds are often unavailable (or provided in gift shop credits or something useless), so if you do decide to book something make sure to read the terms.
You could schedule a flight as far into the future as the plane allows (which to be fair is normally quite a while into the future,) but you will need to figure out where you are going first since you have to book with a destination in mind.