Book now or wait?

[cinmell]

We are traveling to WDW at the end of August. I'm not sure if I should book our air fare now or wait a bit. Some say now because the price of oil/gas going up and some say to wait until 3 months out because that's when deals will be released for the end of August. We are 5 months out.

Are you booking now (or have you already booked) for the end of the summer or holding out a bit longer?

 

[eliza61]

This seems to be the popular question of the day. Sohere's my take, I'm basically not into the airfare "roulette" game. Probably because my nerves can't take it and why add undue stress to vacation planning? lol. That being said, I have my tickets to Orlando for 8/25 already.

Generally, I book when I find a decent price and good flight times. Yes, I have seen fares go down but they are usually on fllights I didn't want in the first place. If I have the choice between saving 150 bucks and saving 6 hours of travel time, the travel time will win with me every time.

Next, I really can't see oil dropping significantly in 5 months. I think we may "flatten" out for a while but pretty much, the market is nervous. Oil is hovering around 105 bucks a gallon, I really can't see it dropping back down to 95-90 dollars in the near future.

If you find flights that work for you at a price that will work for you, I'd book. How much will you save by waiting?

 

[Terrie..]

I say book now also. We already have our flights for August and I periodically check the prices and if they go down, I can always call for a credit.

 

[Buzzfan2Mom]

I've been watching and waiting to buy our August airfare for a month. I finally just purchased it yesterday. Glad I don't have to think about it again till I check in on-line

 

[francie57]

I booked our Aug. airfare last Sept. We were able to get the early morning non-stop from Hartford to Orlando and the last non-stop from Orlando to Hartford for $179 with all taxes/fees included. The same flight now is going for over $281. I have checked other airlines for the same timeframe and they are also higher. For us we got airfare cheaper than we have paid in the past few years. If it were me and you see a fare that is okay with you I would book it since there is really no way of knowing if the fares will come down since oil just seems to be rising.

 

[seashoreCM]

(In shoppers' lingo) Wait for a sale. (Not necessarily a specific price)
(In investors' lingo) Buy on a dip. (Not necessarily making a limit order)

(Food for thought) The last gas price crisis ca. summer 2008 many homeowners (and also Southwest Airlines) made seasonal contracts for fuel oil. Then, come winter, oil prices dropped dramatically leaving these early buyers high(! ) and dry.

 

[grumpytx]

I generally set a price, budget, for airfare and once it gets there I book. Just watched airfare drop yesterday in one particular city I'm watching. Right now I'm waiting and watching.

 

[melmar136]

We are traveling to WDW at the end of August. I'm not sure if I should book our air fare now or wait a bit. Some say now because the price of oil/gas going up and some say to wait until 3 months out because that's when deals will be released for the end of August. We are 5 months out.

Are you booking now (or have you already booked) for the end of the summer or holding out a bit longer?

We are flying out of Boston towards the end of Aug as well. About 3 weeks ago, I was lucky enough to get $67 from BOS to MCO, leaving 8/20 on Southwest. They had no good return flights at the time, and since we'll be doing DCL we couldn't get a flight home before 12:30. Most of the cheaper ones were in the morning. I have been checking kayak.com at least twice a day for flights home, and finally today, United and Delta were pretty low, or at least a lot lower than they have been. So, I got the return for $129 pp which isn't bad. There's always Sanford/Worcester at $99 each way if you can be flexible with your days and don't mind renting a car?

 

[bjscheel]

I would say now if you can find something reasonable. I booked for June a month ago at $198 R/T United. Almost immediately after, our flight's price went up and up, topping at $602. Then one leg was full and I couldn't price our exact flight anymore, but United doesn't have any flights on our dates for less than $500 from Des Moines.

I think I could still get reasonable airfare out of Kansas City on Airtran, but I'd rather not drive that far so I'm glad I jumped when I did.

 

[sam_gordon]

Can you afford (budget wise) the prices available now?

If 'yes', go ahead and book.
If 'no', wait.

Once you book don't look back.

Yes, everyone likes saving money and getting a "deal". But anyone who can tell you when to book airfare must be a millionaire because they would have hit the lottery numbers, horse races, etc over and over again.

 

[lllGurulll]

Gas prices are only going up. I would book as soon as you can. I always book as soon as I decide on my travel dates and have never found a cheaper fare after that when I take the time to look.

 

[Jen_in_NH]

I set a price I want to pay, and when I see it, I buy then. I just bought last night for our December trip, since I found $200 r/t. It will probably go down before we leave, but the peace of mind knowing I have it is worth it to me.

jen

 

[WDWisTheBest]

Gas prices are only going up. I would book as soon as you can. I always book as soon as I decide on my travel dates and have never found a cheaper fare after that when I take the time to look.

I believe many would agree with this approach.

 

[sammielynn]

I booked my May flights as soon as things heated up in Egypt. Prices have gone no where but up.

 

[NancyIL]

This evening I bought our plane tickets from central Illinois to Boston for October. They're a bit higher than when I checked a few months ago, but I don't see oil prices or airline fares coming down much in the near future.

I hope to go to WDW in December, and I will probably book with AirTran as soon as they release those dates.

 

[frannn]

RT from JFK is a bit higher than we've paid in the past (especially the week the fares were released), but at least I'll have peace of mind. It was 646.20 for three of us, and I had a 40 credit from a price drop last year. The credit expires at the beginning of May, so I figured that with my luck, I'd wait and the prices would increase so much that my credit would be useless. Now I have to make ADRs on Saturday-that's the real challenge!

 

[Tony NY]

I say buy it now if you fell it at the right price ... I for one got my flight now and I'm paying a arm and a leg out of EWR for late aug.I have not seen the flights drop they all went up since UA & CO merged. They are seeing the bar out EWR

 

[cinmell]

I wanted to buy over a month ago but had to hold off b/c there was a chance my daughter would be switching schools and the first day of school at the new school would have been the day before we are scheduled to arrive in WDW. She would have missed 8 days the first 2 weeks of school and we couldn't do that so we were holding off to see if she would be transferring. Luckily, she's staying where she is. We picked these dates to avoid interfering with school and I was getting nervous we'd have to cancel so I didn't want to be out the air fare too.

Now that she's staying where she is, vacation is safe and I can book air fare. Of course the fare has been the same price for the past month or so until this past weekend when it went up and hasn't gone down. I think I'm going to just book today and be done with it. I don't want to have to think about it anymore and will be ticked if it goes up and I tried to wait it out.

JB has been higher than I've paid in the past and Delta is a bit cheaper but I don't have luck with Delta. They always seem to change flight times and I can't stand that. I also want to have the tvs for the little ones. We've always had great experiences with JB and I can't say the same for Delta. I looked at air tran but the flight times I want have stop overs. I want direct flights. I've never flown SW but since you can't reserve seats I don't want to chance that with 2 kids.

Thank you for the responses!

 

[mommyoftwinz]

I just booked yesterday for June. I was waiting, they seemed to drop the prices about 3 months out but it may depend on which airline. Some airlines I think you get a better price if you pay further in advance but I know Southwest usually drops their price 3 months out and that's the best time to get it. Probably depends on airports too, so just buy when you are comfortable with the price.

 

[cinmell]

I booked this afternoon so I could be done with it. I just looked for the fun of it on JetBlue and the total price for our flight's went up $140 since this afternoon.