Airline experts--?? about 330 days out

[debster812]

OK folks, short of pulling out the calendar and counting the days, does anyone know of any handy dandy short cuts to figuring out what the 330 day mark would be, if we are looking for flights for next (2005) February School Vacation? (holy runon sentence batkids!!! )

Thanks for your help!

 

[roelongo]

I use a countdown pr0gram on my computer just remember to put in the date you are returning it needs to be 331 days. I'll try to find the link to send to you

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

If I quickly counted back correctly from my dates, today would be the day to book December 30, 2004.

 

[pumpkinboy]

Holy Abacus, Batman! that would put the date to reserve Sat. February 12, 2005 at ...counting... (hmmm, 47 weeks plus 2 days ...counting... um, perhaps Thurs March 18th 2004?

For the DVCers among us it is a bit easier, since we are used to counting back 11 months (which is >330 days) to get the good reservations at our home resorts.

It seems that the only way I can use my Delta SkyMiles for a direct flight is to reserve at the 330 day window. Otherwise I have to use twice the miles to get the direct flight, or else settle for a circuitous route via NY and CVG (and in NY, making a connection from LGA to JFK; no way guys ). I think Debster is well-advised to get those Feb. vacation tix early, to get the one or two cheaper fares in an otherwise unaffordable week for flying.

Good luck Debster

 

[scottsalisbury2003]

Don't forget it is not 331 days from the day you leave.... In order to book the ressie your RETURN flight has to be 331 days away.

Scott

 

[debster812]

Scott--we will probably be on either Song or JetBlue, both of whom price one-way, rather than round trip prices. We may even end up splitting the trip between the two depending on how the pricing works out. Of course JetBlue seems like they are running only about 9 months out, so waiting could cause us to miss out.

pumkinboy--looks like you are exactly correct. I actually just had a brainstorm, and plugged in my outbound date into Excel, and subtracted 331 from it, and the answer: March 18th, 2004. So, looks like that is the day if we were heading out on the Friday. I think we will skip out a couple days early to try and beat some of the crowds. Looks like I will be checking things out starting around March 15th or 16th

Thanks everyone!!!


edited to complete my thought in the 1st paragraph. I need more coffee

 

[jjskribs]

Debster.......

While you can book Song 331 days out you will not be able to book JetBlue that early. I just booked Song for the week between Christmas and New Year's. (I booked 330 days out). JetBlue is presently only booking through the end of October. I could have waited for JetBlue but since you never know when they are going to release new dates I was afraid to wait and wind up getting shut out of the lower fares. Good luck with the "fare game." I can only fly during school vacation times so I have never been able to get really bargain rates. Can't wait until I retire so I can have some flexibility when I fly!

 

[SusanU]

Another tip...when you get to the 330 day mark, I called right at 12:01 am EST to book as that is when the flights are put on the computer at least for Delta. (11:00 pm for CST) Got 7 of us to Hawaii on same flight for free!

 

[Jillpie]

Deb, I don't know if you've done this before, but I have a tip. When you do this, call about 11:55 pm or so, and make sure the rep. is from the east coast. Otherwise, her computer times won't give her the midnight hour yet. I am planning on doing this exact thing for April school vacation, 2005 too. Are you planning on making two seperate calls, one for outbound and one for the return trip? Its kind of a pain, but sure worth it for the price. Its also a pain if you have to cancel the flights, as you have to pay the 25.00 change fee for both flights. I went through this last Summer. Not fun. Anyway, I digress.
Its still a good plan for the busiest time in the Northeast. Good luck!