When do you buy your air fare tickets?

[Disney Fans]

We are wanting to go on the upcoming Thanksgiving week DCL 3 day cruise.
When do you think is the best time to try and look for airfare? I have really never bought air fare for this time of year.
3 months out? more? Does anyone know the stats on when is the best time to buy air fare?
Thanks for the help!!

 

[2*geminis]

We're cruising 11/29/08. Visiting WDW beforehand. I was concerned about prices and availability since flying Txgiving week. I started to look as soon as the airfare was available. We're flying from OR. I was a little obssesed and looked several times a day. I stressed when prices were up to $450 -$500 . I feel I lucked out because late one Jan. night before bed I checked yet again and it was $250 per person. So my family of 4 is flying to MCO from Portland, OR for $1005. We can barely get to Vegas for $250. I am so glad the search is over.

So I guess I'd say start looking now since it's a holiday week. You just never know when the price might be right for you.

 

[NancyIL]

My family of 5 met in Orlando last Thanksgiving day. Three of us flew from Indianapolis on AirTran, 1 daughter flew from DFW on AirTran & American, and the other daughter flew from Chicago on Southwest. I bought the AirTran and the Southwest tickets last June. Those flights never got lower - as far as I could tell. On the other hand, American Airlines started out very high and got lower around August/September - and I wish I had waited a little longer to buy that ticket.

 

[Disney Fans]

Thanks,
Sounds like I need to kind of check here and there but really check when it gets to be about 4-3 months out.

 

[ma_t_gus]

I booked through Cont. Air for 12/19-12/27 from Newark to MCO the day the seats became open. It was $380 pp. I checked today is was $450 pp. It'll probably go higher because of the gas prices and holiday season. The good thing about booking early is that we get to sit next to each other. During holiday season, it might be hard to get seats together once the plane starts filling up.

 

[kcashner]

For a holiday week, you can't buy too soon. If you do Southwest and they reduce the prices, they will issue a credit and let you fly the lower fare. THey are the only airline that I know of that does this.

Holiday weeks fill up fast, and the flights that you can get become very expensive. I'd buy as soon as the airline you use releases their dates.

 

[Colorado DISers]

We bought ours for Southwest the day they opened for our June cruise. It was $956 for the four of us R/T from Denver to Orlando non-stop. I checked today and it is now $1,560. With Southwest it pays to get them as soon as they go on sale.

 

[disneypoor]

We're doing the 7 night Thanksgiving cruise this year, and I bought our air the day it came out with Midwest. We paid $239 per ticket to fly from Kansas City to Orlando, and that's a pretty good rate compared to what we normally have had to pay. I've watched the fares for Midwest closely since I booked, and it is sky high right now and hasn't dropped but has continually gotten higher. It will be interesting to see what kind of rates SW comes out with. Good luck in your search!

 

[VAgal76]

I'm on the Magic's Thanksgiving cruise, too, and finding airfare was going to drive me to drink. Airtran opened their schedule and I found a decent price on the way down but I couldn't find anything nice on the way back. Then my decent Friday night fare went away overnight while I was trying to book my 3 remaining tickets. I think when I first began looking it was $400-$600 pp r/t. They are still very high for the return on Airtran because they aren't offering any discounted rates. I had do some tweaking but we're now flying out Thursday so I could use my A+ rewards and I had Delta miles for my return leg. I'm still spending $167 pp. Which is awesome considering the going rate, but a little sad considering how many miles I had to use to get it that far down. Normal ticket in my area is $225 and that's not direct service.

Really, consider booking ASAP. I don't think they're going to be big sales for Thanksgiving weekend. The research I did showed that many did black out dates right around Thanksgiving which forces you to pay the premium. I see you're cruising aboard the Wonder. Sunday is going to be the worst and most expensive travel day. Don't expect any deals on it. Book the best deal you can find. Otherwise, if you have SW around you (they're a little far for me) then you might want to wait it out and jump on their fares as soon as they open their schedule.

Good luck!

 

[cats mom]

I'm looking at booking holiday travel (not for a Disney cruise though... darn!)
I plan on grabbing the best SW rate I can find when their dates open and then I'll just keep my eyes open for a better deal.

Love SW refund policies!

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

We're cruising 11/29/08. Visiting WDW beforehand. I was concerned about prices and availability since flying Txgiving week. I started to look as soon as the airfare was available. We're flying from OR. I was a little obssesed and looked several times a day. I stressed when prices were up to $450 -$500 . I feel I lucked out because late one Jan. night before bed I checked yet again and it was $250 per person. So my family of 4 is flying to MCO from Portland, OR for $1005. We can barely get to Vegas for $250. I am so glad the search is over.

So I guess I'd say start looking now since it's a holiday week. You just never know when the price might be right for you.

We are also flying from Oregon and after watching the prices for months I went ahead and booked PDX to MCO on Delta for $260 per person this week. i'm glad I did as it had already went up! I say once you find a price you can live with book.

 

[Disney Fans]

When does SW open up for Thanksgiving time 2008? to check rates?

Thanks!

 

[VAgal76]

SW usually opens their schedule 6 months in advance though you might be looking at early June for later the November flight schedule. Just keep checking their web site (or the Transportation board) for announcements. If they don't open the entire month up then purchase 2 one way tickets. If there are any fare drops or "dings" you can get the credit. I hear they're good about that. Honestly, I don't know if they'll offer any great deals for your travel deals. They might be good in comparison, but might not super cheap as other times of the year.

 

[Disney Fans]

Yep. I keep checking and it does give me a head ache.
But maybe something will work out.

 

[NancyIL]

AirTran is booking through at least early December.

 

[ma_t_gus]

Just saw the news that United raised their fares by up to $50. It's not even peak season and the gas prices are already going up.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080314/ap_on_bi_ge/air_fares_4

 

[Peggy Jean]

I don't know how diligent you want to get with searching for airfare, I sometimes think I'm addicted to finding low fares.

If SWA is a possibilty download their "Ding" option. I have been able to fly my son from school in IL to MD for about $59 one way for Thanksgiving, but going back on Thanksgiving Sunday is another story, that's always high.

We fly from BWI and I can usually get airfare for about $59 to $89 one way to MCO.

Another suggestion is to go to the airlines websites and sign up for email alerts, they'll tell you when specials are going on. You can even choose which cities you're interested in. We use Airtran to fly DD from school near Boston and we managed to get $49 each way (that's Boston to BWI) tix for this Easter break coming up.

And as someone else posted, with SWA they will give you a lower fare if a better price comes up after you already book, but they "bank" your $$ and it must be used within one year from when it was originally purchased. For us that's never a problem, we're usually flying to FL at least once a year, and the kids are coming back and forth from school, so we always use "banked" funds.