Best time to buy Airfare??????

[flutterby3744]

Hello all! We are going to WDW July 26-Aug 2. We are flying out of Chicago, and I'm not picky about airlines. From what I've been reading, the "sweet spot" to purchase tickets is 10-7 weeks out. I've been price checking flights for a couple weeks, and it looks like I can get a flight for around $300ish per person right now.

For all you experienced flyers out there: Do you think the prices will get better??? So far I've seen the prices go up for some flights and remain the same for others. I'm so nervous about waiting and then having tickets totally bust my budget because I waiting too long! but then I don't want to buy now just to have the prices drop in a few weeks. I'm so conflicted and it's driving me slightly wacko!!!!

 

[sam_gordon]

Hello all! We are going to WDW July 26-Aug 2. We are flying out of Chicago, and I'm not picky about airlines. From what I've been reading, the "sweet spot" to purchase tickets is 10-7 weeks out. I've been price checking flights for a couple weeks, and it looks like I can get a flight for around $300ish per person right now.

For all you experienced flyers out there: Do you think the prices will get better??? So far I've seen the prices go up for some flights and remain the same for others. I'm so nervous about waiting and then having tickets totally bust my budget because I waiting too long! but then I don't want to buy now just to have the prices drop in a few weeks. I'm so conflicted and it's driving me slightly wacko!!!!

I'll give you my standard response... I'll tell you down to the minute when to buy your airfare and it will be the GUARANTEED lowest price. In exchange, all I want from you is the GUARANTEED winning Powerball numbers for the next drawing? Deal?

Seriously, no one can tell you what prices will do. For some people, it works out 7-10 weeks out, for others (me included) it's 10 1/2 MONTHS out (on a legacy airline). What works for one person won't work for everyone. Airlines have gotten pretty good with "supply & demand" pricing, IMO.

How does that $300 compare to what you've seen the last couple weeks? High? Low? Middle? How are you checking? I now use http://matrix.itasoftware.com/. Others swear by kayak or bing travel.

Do your research, buy when you're happy with purchasing, and unless you're on SW or JB (which offer free changes), don't look again.

 

[flutterby3744]

I realize it's all a gamble. I was just curious what other people's strategies were, and past experiences. Since I'm not a seasoned air traveler, I honestly don't know if $300 ish is a good or just OK price for a flight.

I have been searching Travelocity, kyak, and I have the skyscanner app. In addition to the individual airline sites. I have also been reading enough past analysis from companies/individuals to make my head spin. I just wanted to get some advice from real people.

I guess I'm just nervous about pulling the trigger. We are a family of 5, and the price difference could be significant.

 

[mickey2000]

$300 is a great price if flying SWA as bags are included!
I bought this morning return flights to PHL when the window opened for Aug., already 2 flights for the day are sold out! (6 hours ago) JMO

 

[DebbieB]

10-7 weeks might be a general rule but I think people going on vacation to Orlando tend to plan earlier. Especially if you want non-stops and good times (morning to MCO and afternoon/evening back).

 

[sam_gordon]

Airtran is showing $289 RT right now. I don't know what their baggage fees are. Delta is listed at $302. I get free bags on Delta, so I'd go through them. The cheapest I can find on SW is $278, but I'm not crazy about the times.

Over the last couple weeks has the price gone up, down, or stayed about the same? If I had to guess, I'd say the prices will go UP more as time goes on.

 

[flutterby3744]

The price has pretty much stayed the same for the "budget" airlines. Although when I checked Southwest a few weeks ago, there were far fewer "get away" prices than there are now. The others: United, American etc have gone up.

Thank you for your advice. I'm booking now. It's probably doubtful I will get much lower....hoping for $59 one way to Orlando in July is probably out of the question!

 

[SandyinMonterey]

We are going to WDW in April (Easter Break)...so busy time. I expected airfare to be higher than usual because #! WDW and #2 Easter Break. When I started looking 11 months out...tickets were in the high $300's to mid $400's from California. I thought that since I was looking so far out, it could only go down. It didn't. Not only that, times and connections all changed. Some people say get airfare as soon as it's released, others say buy at 10 week out mark, etc. There is no way to tell what the airlines are doing and when (and if) prices will drop. The best rule of thumb (that I will certainly be using from now on) is buying when I'm comfortable with the price and within my budget.

 

[ancestry]

For our preferred airlines (Jet Blue and Southwest) out of the airports closest to us, the airfare is almost always the cheapest to MCO when it is first released. We have traveled at all different times of the year and usually (about 85%) of the time the prices only go up. I don't know about the legacy carriers as we rarely fly on them unless there aren't any other options.

At 7-10 weeks out the price is usually pretty high and often more then double the initial release -- again this is my experience from my home airports.

 

[Aliceacc]

We're going from July 29 - August 5, flying out of NYC.

Here's what I did: I watched the prices-- compulsively-- every single day for a few weeks. I knew I wanted Jetblue-- their 1st bag flies free, combined with the free in flight snacks and TVs make for a more enjoyable and budget friendly trip for us. So, from the day Jetblue opend up our dates, every single day I checked the Jetblue site, and found the same price: a total of $1474 for our 5 tickets.

Then, on January 3, I checked and found that the exact same flights had dropped to $1220. So I pulled the trigger and bought the tickets. The next day they were up to $1474.

So my advice is to know your prices, and jump the second they go down significantly.

 

[Halle]

An airline flight watching guru on Fox news reported that 54 days out is the cheapest day to book your flights. As previous posters have posted....and I agree it is about your airport and the number of flights available at any given time.

 

[Jimsig]

An airline flight watching guru on Fox news reported that 54 days out is the cheapest day to book your flights. As previous posters have posted....and I agree it is about your airport and the number of flights available at any given time.

The Huffington Post had an article about that the other day as well.

Of course anytime you can find an airfare you can live with is also a good time to book. Just don't beat youself up too much if it goes down afterwards. But celebrate if it goes up!

I booked R/T airfare in Jan for a trip to Alaska in June on Jet Blue, about 127 days out and outside the 29-104 day window the article suggests. That airfare is has steadly gone up and is now about $300 more then what I paid. No idea if it will go back down, but for now I am doing the happy dance.

 

[LoverDisney]

There are a lot of things to consider before booking a flight. For me it's always been the day of the week. I always book on a Monday because the fair tends to increase Wednesday - Friday. This strategy has worked for me. It also depends on what time you are flying. We are leaving July 14th at 8am so I booked on 2/24. I'm glad I did because the flight leaving for Disney went from $138 to $179. The return flight increased by $3. Good luck!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

The best time to buy is when the price is what you are willing to pay. There is no magical day or golden hour that is right for buying tickets.

 

[floridacrazy]

I booked my airfare on 2/22 and the fare on the same flight out of NY from LGA to MCO has gone up, but the return fare has remained the same. I booked it when the flight going out was $134 and now it's $191.

I book the airfare as soon as I see a fare that I think is as low as I am going to get. I compare a couple of airlines and I always find it that Jetblue is the lowest. In all the times I have gone to Orlando in July and that is when we take our vacations, I have never seen the fares go down.

 

[dis_guy]

For where we are we like United for their times and routes. Our best price is usually a week or two after the fares are released at around 300 days out. Great if you know when you're going. Typically, they will triple by the time we go though I've seen some very good fares the day before a flight leaves but that's taking a chance there will even be seats available.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Just got this article today about when the best time to buy is

http://www.smartertravel.com/blogs/...LBAE40F53&nl_cs=17817005::7597638::17812107::