Best time to book cheapest fares (for Sept)

[5ofus]

It looks like our Vegas/Disneyland trip will be in September next year No firm date as yet, but probably in the first couple of weeks. So my question is, how far in advance is it best to buy tickets? This is somewhat of a budget trip and with five airfares to buy, it's not looking too cheap!

I know we have a lot of September travellers here (most of who are probably still OS!), so any words of wisdom are welcome

BTW, I'm in Sydney.

 

[Caroline NZ]

We will be travelling in Sep next year too. But I'm no help on the airfare front as we travel on standby(staff). Fingers crossed there are 4 unsold seats for us

 

[battymum]

If you are not restricted to school holidays, you will have better luck - but when you do buy - STOP LOOKING!!!

There is nothing worse than seeing them cheaper after you have already booked.

We were lucky with our September 2011 trip and booked on the newly announced SYD-DFW route that was introduced in January that year -

I was happy with $1250pp return to Orlando, and that was in school hols (or close enough to it)

 

[Melbourne5]

We have travelled in sept 3 times in the last 4 years. We purchased our tickets in jan, April and August and paid $999, $999, $1259 so I guess the earlier the better from our experience. All airlines have spot specials though that pop up from time to time and last just a few days. If you are on their email list and prepared to act then you will win! ( like above fares.)

 

[ExcitedSam]

We go on Saturday and got our fares at the flight centre travel expo in February. I have not seen them cheaper all year! It's good if you can be flexible with days. We had to adjust ours 1 day earlier going and two days later coming back from what we had planned.

 

[gregpso]

It looks like our Vegas/Disneyland trip will be in September next year No firm date as yet, but probably in the first couple of weeks. So my question is, how far in advance is it best to buy tickets? This is somewhat of a budget trip and with five airfares to buy, it's not looking too cheap!

I know we have a lot of September travellers here (most of who are probably still OS!), so any words of wisdom are welcome

BTW, I'm in Sydney.

Check Air new Zealand fares daily from about now. They release fares about 12 months in advance. I mean check every day because for 2 days they had a return fare (from melb) for around $1200.(for our dates which we got) We checked again a few days later and they went up to $2000. The cheap fare was not advertised. !! as soon as your dates are released. obviously only a few seats available at that price. best of luck

 

[Aussie Wendy]

I agree. Airlines have just started releasing deals through to August/Sept next year so time to start keeping a serious eye. Most so far have been the Europe routes not USA (I am after Europe but don't know exact weeks I will be free to travel cf work commitments yet). Make sure you are on every airline/travel site email alert lists so you get first notice as well as auditing sites daily. I have paid the price before by not being able to jump in early enough and not getting as good a deal as if I had bought 10-12 months out.

 

[JennyN]

Last week we booked flights for the end of June next year with Virgin $1200 each. We are happy with that.

 

[Andona]

It looks like our Vegas/Disneyland trip will be in September next year No firm date as yet, but probably in the first couple of weeks. So my question is, how far in advance is it best to buy tickets? This is somewhat of a budget trip and with five airfares to buy, it's not looking too cheap!

I know we have a lot of September travellers here (most of who are probably still OS!), so any words of wisdom are welcome

BTW, I'm in Sydney.

I was hoping to pick up cheap tickets at the Travel expo last February for our currrent trip, but the fares over the school holiday period weren't hugely discounted. However, we did pick up a really good deal with Air New Zealand at thAt time, so I second keeping an eye on air NZ. We had to fly via Auckland but the planes were good.

Andona

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[5ofus]

Thanks for all the advice Unfortunately we still don't know WHEN exactly in September, and won't know until January. Our friends are getting married in Vegas and are doing a recon mission in January to check things out and book a date. They are thinking early September and before school hols so hopefully we won't have to contend with inflated prices. Wish I could keep an eye out on fares now (and I will anyway, just won't book), but knowing my luck, I'd book the flights and leave the day they ended up booking their wedding!

 

[Melbourne5]

Thanks for all the advice Unfortunately we still don't know WHEN exactly in September, and won't know until January. Our friends are getting married in Vegas and are doing a recon mission in January to check things out and book a date. They are thinking early September and before school hols so hopefully we won't have to contend with inflated prices. Wish I could keep an eye out on fares now (and I will anyway, just won't book), but knowing my luck, I'd book the flights and leave the day they ended up booking their wedding!

Still leaves plenty of time to watch for specials then pounce.

 

[alicia1506]

i check daily the vaustralia website for the pricing for their bne - lax prices.. at the moment, they have only released for the first 1.5 weeks of september, and i need them to release for the end of september before we can book.

basically i recommend either a daily or every 2/3 day check of the website, plus subscribe to their newsletter/online special/facebook page etc.

plus, it's not a bad idea to check the expedia.ie website. they often have specials for certain flights at certain times of the year for vastly discounted rates

 

[Melbourne5]

i check daily the vaustralia website for the pricing for their bne - lax prices.. at the moment, they have only released for the first 1.5 weeks of september, and i need them to release for the end of september before we can book.

basically i recommend either a daily or every 2/3 day check of the website, plus subscribe to their newsletter/online special/facebook page etc.

plus, it's not a bad idea to check the expedia.ie website. they often have specials for certain flights at certain times of the year for vastly discounted rates

Agree 100% with this. We followed a special with VA and whilst it covered dates we still weren't in a position to book. They extended the sale twice which covered a further 4 weeks and we jumped all over it when the finances were in order at our end!

 

[Jade+3]

I used Air NZ holidays. It was cheaper to book a holiday package, which was airfares and one nights accommodation, than it was to purchase the airfares. It was a saving of about $300, but better than nothing. It does pay to check the holidays/packages area on the airline websites as they are not always advertised.