This ^ When I decide that I'm going some where and when, I do a quick price check and I might wait a week while periodically checking, I book it, flight prices don't really shift too much from my experience but the longer you wait the worse it seems to get.We book when we are sure were traveling and OK with the Price. Trying to time the buying the of airline tickets is like predicting lotto numbers.
I usually book on release day and keep checking back for lower rates and/or take advantage of sales. It is very easy to get a credit if booking with points, but now that cash credit never expires it is worth modifying in either case. I am fortunate that I can often fly on weekdays, but even my Saturday morning flight in February dropped from 9218 to 6879 points. (My Tuesday evening flight home in March went from $97 to $74 and then to $49.)When SWA releases new dates or wait? It used to be that flights were cheapest three months, before but these past few years flights never seem to be cheap any more.