Flight booking...?

[ChasingLeslie]

How far ahead do you like to book your flights...?

We're likely flying Delta again next year, so no SW-style adjustments.

 

[dis_guy]

How far ahead do you like to book your flights...?

Boy, that's the age old question, isn't it? I haven't flown on Delta for awhile, but we do fly United quite often. I usually book as early as I can so long as I can get what is to me a reasonable price. I've been doing this long enough that I know what a fair price is on the routes that I fly. So, get familiar with what Delta's usual fares are for your trip and if you see a price that you can live with, buy it immediately. In my experience ( again, mostly United) fares are lowest a week or two after they're released and then they go up from there right up to the departure date. Mind you, having said all this I have been seeing some new trends developing with a few airlines, so your mileage will certainly vary.

 

[ChasingLeslie]

Thanks @dis_guy - I appreciate the feedback!

A Disney trip is the only kind of trip we book so far in advance. I usually book when I see a price I can live with, but it's frustrating to watch the fluctuation!

Does anyone know when June/July flights are generally released?

 

[dis_guy]

Thanks @dis_guy - I appreciate the feedback!

A Disney trip is the only kind of trip we book so far in advance. I usually book when I see a price I can live with, but it's frustrating to watch the fluctuation!

Does anyone know when June/July flights are generally released?

You're very welcome.

So true, with so much to deal with (ADR FP+, etc) it only makes sense to get a head start at it all.

United and Delta have their June schedules up and both are booking into July to varying degrees.

 

[nkereina]

Does anyone know when June/July flights are generally released?

I believe around 10 months out. Last year, I booked for late September 2016 in the second week of November 2015 on Delta.

I do agree with PP that fares seem to be lowest when they first come up and steadily increase. Our flights to Hawaii coming up have only increased since we booked, and just last week I booked Southwest flights to Orlando on the day the schedule was released, which are now up by $60 per person.

 

[Canooknic]

This is the 1st time we've booked our entire vacation through WDW. Usually we boom our flights 2-3 months out, but Disney were offering a direct flight with WestJet which knocks roughly 3 hours off of our total travel time so we just went with it !!

 

[dis_guy]

Disney were offering a direct flight with WestJet

Exactly what we ended up doing for our next trip except we booked directly with Westjet. Really looking forward to not having to connect this time. Our usual United flights were just crazy expensive and they still are!

 

[Canooknic]

Exactly what we ended up doing for our next trip except we booked directly with Westjet. Really looking forward to not having to connect this time. Our usual United flights were just crazy expensive and they still are!

We are too!! We always connect in Minneapolis (so we can clear customs in Edmonton) and our outbound flight is always on the other side of the airport (except the one time I was on my own and had 3 hours to kill!!!) which is not fun with 2 little guys in tow!!

 

[dis_guy]

We are too!! We always connect in Minneapolis (so we can clear customs in Edmonton) and our outbound flight is always on the other side of the airport (except the one time I was on my own and had 3 hours to kill!!!) which is not fun with 2 little guys in tow!!

Yeah, that's pretty common at many airports, the regional jets have their own gates at one end of the terminal and the hike to the main gates can be a long one. I've noticed the same thing with United in Denver and Houston lately. On one trip with my in-laws, I'd have gladly traded them for a couple of two year olds. Two year olds don't wander off looking for coffee nearly making us miss our connection!

When's your vacation? Were heading down the first week of January.

 

[Canooknic]

Yeah, that's pretty common at many airports, the regional jets have their own gates at one end of the terminal and the hike to the main gates can be a long one. I've noticed the same thing with United in Denver and Houston lately. On one trip with my in-laws, I'd have gladly traded them for a couple of two year olds. Two year olds don't wander off looking for coffee nearly making us miss our connection!

When's your vacation? Were heading down the first week of January.

No chance of going anywhere with my in-laws (bonus, they live in England!), it's stressful enough surviving the mall food court with them!

We leave February 4th for two weeks at POR. We didn't manage to escape the snow last year so I'm literally counting down the days for this trip!

 

[addiln]

I tend to book as soon as I see a price that I think is a good price. I generally use SW so I have some flexibility. Most of the time it ends up being right when the pricing comes out for that month.

 

[dis_guy]

We leave February 4th for two weeks at POR. We didn't manage to escape the snow last year so I'm literally counting down the days for this trip!

Have a great time! You need to add a trip counter to your signature! 137 days for us, today.

 

[karly05]

I flew Delta this year (will use them again for 2017) and have previously flown mostly American.

I book my flight 2 to 3 months before the trip. I always wait about as long as I can stand to, because I feel like the flight is the one thing I can't change/cancel without a lot of hassle.

Like a PP here, I start watching prices for the flights I want months and months ahead of time (Delta's schedule runs about a year out) to get a feel for pricing. I also know what I've paid in past years. I have a target in mind, and watch for the prices to get to a good/acceptable rate. Last year, I missed an awesome price because I couldn't make my mind up fast enough. When the price went up from that, then up again, I jumped while it was still in my target range, but if I'd been just a little more patient, it went back down (and up. and down) again (this was Delta).

 

[AquamarineSteph]

How far ahead do you like to book your flights...?

We're likely flying Delta again next year, so no SW-style adjustments.

I fly either Delta or AA, and I generally start looking at the prices as soon as they're available to search. Then when it goes down, I'll book the tickets. One thing I have noticed with Delta is that if you select main cabin, you *may* see a better price for Delta Comfort or even first class than was originally shown on the first page of flights/prices when you reach the next to the last screen. It's not always a given, but it has happened to me a few times so I thought I'd mention it. That's booking through the Delta website, though.

Happy trip!

 

[dis_guy]

I fly either Delta or AA, and I generally start looking at the prices as soon as they're available to search. Then when it goes down, I'll book the tickets. One thing I have noticed with Delta is that if you select main cabin, you *may* see a better price for Delta Comfort or even first class than was originally shown on the first page of flights/prices when you reach the next to the last screen. It's not always a given, but it has happened to me a few times so I thought I'd mention it. That's booking through the Delta website, though.

Happy trip!

Yup, this is pretty much the best approach that I've found for finding decent fares these days. I forgot to mention to keep an eye out for upgrades. On our last flight on United we got an upgrade to first class for about what the baggage fees and a meal at the terminal would have cost. Always pays to look at all of your options.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

Yup, this is pretty much the best approach that I've found for finding decent fares these days. I forgot to mention to keep an eye out for upgrades. On our last flight on United we got an upgrade to first class for about what the baggage fees and a meal at the terminal would have cost. Always pays to look at all of your options.

That happened to us on our last AA flight as well. That one was a last minute upgrade option, but I took it because it was so much more comfortable!

 

[dis_guy]

That happened to us on our last AA flight as well. That one was a last minute upgrade option, but I took it because it was so much more comfortable!

Isn't it! I'm old enough to remember the time when airliners hardly ever flew full and if you looked presentable (i.e. jacket and tie for men) there was a good chance you'd be given a free upgrade to first class pretty much all the time. Sigh.

 

[bumbershoot]

On one trip with my in-laws, I'd have gladly traded them for a couple of two year olds. Two year olds don't wander off looking for coffee nearly making us miss our connection!

Ha! So true. My MIL disappeared on me at the pharmacy at Target the other day. She doesn't walk well so I told her to *wait here* with the cart as the pharmacist and I walked briskly to help me find something for MIL's skin, and when we got back she was gone! She decided to go looking for hairspray. She's slowly going into dementia so it really gave me a fright.


Anyway, I wait as long as possible. I haven't booked a flight home for Labor Day weekend, for instance. I only booked our flight for the 23rd of August a week ago, and the 27th after that.

That said we're heading to San Juan in December and I'll likely book those soon. And I did book our trip out to Florida (before going to SJ) months ago; not sure why.

So even I sometimes book early. Never a year out though, not unless I was booking with SW or Alaska where I can get fee-free credit if the cost goes down.