We arrive again in October and I was wondering when is the best time to get tickets. Is it 6 months before or a couple months before? We just got back and I bought our plane tickets in April just wondering is that always the case for price.
I'll tell you down to the minute when to get the cheapest plane tickets on one condition... you tell me the next set of winning power ball numbers. Deal? I thought so.
There is no "magic time" to get plane tickets.
1) The study that was done a couple years ago found the AVERAGE time to get the cheapest plane tickets was 7 weeks out. But that's the AVERAGE. That means some people paid more and some people paid less.
2) Someone who says "I always buy when the first come out" or "I always find the cheapest at the 4 week mark". Unless they track every day from when the prices are released until the flight takes off, they don't know.
3) Every situation is different. What's the departure airport? What's the destination airport? What day of the week do you want to travel? What month do you want to travel? What time do you want to leave? Are connections an option for you? Do you need to check luggage? Are you flexible on your travel days? Do you have to be somewhere a certain time? As you can see, this leads to millions(?) of possible combinations. Every answer will vary the cost amount.
4) Are other transportation options in play? I'm not willing to pay $500 a ticket for somewhere I can drive in 13 hours. However, I'll pay more than $1000 a ticket if I can't get there in a day or two otherwise.
What works for me...
1) Once I know when I want to go, I start looking at airline tickets. Personally, I use google flights (google.com/flights) and set up tracking. And I'll occasionally look at SW (not included in Google's search). I also periodically check on my own. This gives me a rough idea of what tickets are going for.
2) If the cost is high (relative, each has to determine what "high" means), look to #4 above.
3) When I get a cost that I find acceptable (does not mean "cheap"), I buy. If I don't want to be upset if the price drops, I don't look again.
#3 has meant I've booked four months out, six months out, and even 11 months out. If you want to travel in October, you're already less than four months away, and the way tickets have been exploding, I'd be paying CLOSE attention. If you're talking October next year, look at what prices are for the same travel time for this October. Keep watching those. They'll give you an idea of what's "expected" come next year. In other words, if the tickets for this October are $400pp, and when they come out for 23 in November they're $200pp, I'd probably grab them.
