Booking a flight question please

[Bertie131]

My booking window has opened with Southwest Airlines, so of course I am itching to schedule it. They have a perfect, early morning flight to get me to MCO late morning. My concern is: Is this too early to book? (Trip is 7 months away) If the price goes down, I get a credit voucher that has to be used within a year and I know I won't be flying again in that year, so that would be wasted. If I wait for a better price then I may lose an ideal flight--early AM and non-stop. Any experience here would be fantastic! TIA!

 

[keltiesmom]

What's more important to you? If the price is good right now, and the time is ideal I would probably book it. With kids a nonstop flight is worth more to me than a little money. If you think you can deal with a layover and save more than a couple hundred bucks then I might wait.

 

[Bertie131]

Seems like a good price, but not 100% sure since I haven't flown in awhile. The price is $161.00 each way from New York. What do you guys think?

 

[outahere]

If you can fly JetBlue I would check their prices. They are usually less expensive than Southwest, at least from the Boston area. We fly JetBlue all the time and find their planes are a lot more comfortable (plus they have a TV at every seat).

 

[stargazertechie]

Compare it to the other travel sites. If you're happy with the price compared to what others are offering, book it and if you *know* you're not flying again in a year, don't look back.

 

[Lynne M]

I'm going to move this to the Transportation board.

 

[Wood Nymph]

My booking window has opened with Southwest Airlines, so of course I am itching to schedule it. They have a perfect, early morning flight to get me to MCO late morning. My concern is: Is this too early to book? (Trip is 7 months away) If the price goes down, I get a credit voucher that has to be used within a year and I know I won't be flying again in that year, so that would be wasted. If I wait for a better price then I may lose an ideal flight--early AM and non-stop. Any experience here would be fantastic! TIA!

It depends on whether or not you are traveling during peak season. Prices will most likely drop if you are traveling during the off season, but might rise if you are traveling on a holiday weekend. I've seen the price of our trip date of Nov 30th, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, go sky high after the prices first came out, and flights sell out, too. But the price of the return flight on the Thursday after Thanksgiving went way down after the inital offering.

 

[mkarizona]

In my experience the best prices start about 3 months before the date you plan to travel. You might want to try bing travel's price predictor.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

In my experience the best prices start about 3 months before the date you plan to travel. You might want to try bing travel's price predictor.

Not these days. I have found the sooner you purchase your ticket before your flight the better. Prices for this summer are incredibly high and they weren't any cheaper three months ago.

 

[mickeynut1]

In my experience the best prices start about 3 months before the date you plan to travel.

Not these days. I have found the sooner you purchase your ticket before your flight the better.

I think both are correct, depending on where you are flying from. We fly out of Chicago Midway and flights are always on the high side when they are first released and then they come down over time. We are going to Disney in December and when our dates came out on SWA, they were $166/pp each way. A week or two ago when they ran one of their specials, I was able to get $99/pp going down.....quite a savings over what it was when the fares were first released. Now I'm just watching and waiting for our return to come down. With that said, some areas have the best deals as soon as fares come out, while others start high and gradually come down over time.

 

[bumbershoot]

If the price goes down, I get a credit voucher that has to be used within a year and I know I won't be flying again in that year, so that would be wasted.

Book it when you're comfy with the price and the time, and don't look back!

Same deal when booking a flight with an airline that charges change fees or doesn't give the difference back. If the fee will be more than you would save, don't look back. Not worth it.