Air travel experts - when to start

[Trekker]

looking for airfare out of Chicago or Milwaukee to Orlando for the following dates 3/28-29/2003 to 4/5-6/2003.

How far in advance do you USUALLY see the discounted fares available?

 

[travelbug]

Discounted tickets can be found as soon as the booking window opens up for the travel dates in question. 334 days in advance of the return date, if I recall correctly.

I check immediately when the window of time comes up, assuming I'm positive of my travel dates. This year, that really paid off. I got 2 excellent rates on sets of tickets to Fla. in 2003. In one case, the phenomenal price disappeared within hours.

Check websites as often as you can, because discounted fares come and go. Sometimes good fares are totally unpublicized. If you're not already registered on travelocity, that would be a good thing to do. You can sign up for Fare Watcher, and they will notify you by e-mail when rates between your key cities are below a certain price goal that you set.

I also like expedia, orbitz, and cheaptickets. But whenever I find a good price on one of those sites, I immediately go to the specific airline's website to make sure I'm getting the lowest fare for that flight.

Hope this helps a little. Good luck as you look for nice cheap airfare!

 

[ncligs]

Travelbug gave you excellent info. Keep checking everyday.The major airlines(Continental,US AIR,Delta,Northwest,etc) post their flights 11 months out. The smaller airlines are 6 months or less.
Whenver you see a good price and the travel days are good for you jump on it.

 

[BobH]

I use all the trvel websites listed above and I sign up for their automatic email notification system to email me when rates change. I use this system to get a general idea for a good rate.
I decide what is an acceptable range for a ticket. For example
$180 to $220 is a good range for a Boston to Orlando ticket most of the time but in January I always see prices much lower. I have occasionally see prices drop after I have purcahsed but if I do the advanced research it usually works out OK.