How far in advance do you book your flight?

[todd222222]

I consider airfare pricing to be one of the great mysteries of the world.

As you might know airlines use Yield Management. Wikipedia has a decent article here.

Here is another one that talks about the airlines. here

Based on some job listings I've seen with cruise lines in the past I would guess that cruise lines will really start taking this approach as well.

I started my "career" at American Airlines back in the mid 90s working in reservations...once you get the idea it's rather amazing what they are able to do. American started the whole idea and used Sabre to get it going. Here is a little history. if anyone cares....

Now I'm on the other side of it, trying to figure out when to buy my Jan 09 tickets....it's a pain I know.

 

[cjs123123]

I just booked airfare for me dh and daughter(1) today for june. It finally went down today so we booked. 562 for 3 of us not bad. were my sister who is coming from michigan got airfare 3 weeks ago for june for 2 adults for 278 that is awesome, I wish I could have gotten it. she got it through airtran out of detroit. 54 dollar one ways

 

[melissac]

We just booked a week ago for our trip at the end of Oct. We are travel with 11 people and contacted Airtran and the prices where about $40 cheaper booking a group then if we booked individually. Plus, we were guaranteed seats together. It somethimes pays to fly in a large group. I'm sure that other airlines do this to but, this was the ne with the times we liked.

 

[PinkTink63]

I booked my August airfare last November and my December airfare last month. I know it is really early, but I checked seating charts and the flights are filling up, especially for my NYE week trip.

Me too! (My Aug. airfare in Nov.) I wish we were going in Dec.! I had to use my companion ticket by then. Normally I probably wouldn't book that far in advance, unless the price was right.

 

[sssteele]

We fly mostly Airtran and have always booked the best deal as soon as the flights became available on the web page. $200 or so pp from Pittsburgh or Baltimore. Our next trip is over-the-road because we're doing a cruise and then a 2 week stay at WDW, so the car will come in handy.

 

[Weluvdisny]

I booked for this past January in August for Jet Blue. The price never went down, only up for our flight. So I will definately book at the 6 month window for our next trip to get the best price.

 

[Inkmahm]

We like to fly Midwest Airlines and their prices tend to go up the closer you get - so I just booked yesterday for our January 09 trip. Most think I am crazy to book that early, but it gives me peace of mind and allows me to have the trip paid for very early.

I don't think you're crazy as I do the smae thing. I noticed last year that the rates seemed to increase every few months until they were really high right before a flight. I book all of mine ASAP. I have flights on Midwest booked for April, October and December at the moment. As soon as I book our March trip for next year, I'll be looking for Midwest flights to go with it.

 

[jjj623]

We use Jetblue, and book as soon as possible. If prices go down on the same flight, I just call them and they'll put the difference as a voucher for future travel. It will be a few months before I can book flights for our Feb 2009 trip...

 

[summergolf]

from our area the minute the round trip tickets for 2 of us hit 400.00 or less I book it

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

As you might know airlines use Yield Management. Wikipedia has a decent article here.

Here is another one that talks about the airlines. here

Based on some job listings I've seen with cruise lines in the past I would guess that cruise lines will really start taking this approach as well.

I started my "career" at American Airlines back in the mid 90s working in reservations...once you get the idea it's rather amazing what they are able to do. American started the whole idea and used Sabre to get it going. Here is a little history. if anyone cares....

Now I'm on the other side of it, trying to figure out when to buy my Jan 09 tickets....it's a pain I know.

Thanks for the links Todd. I'll have to read up. I know that they have this very complicated system that is virtually impossible for anyone to figure out. I think that now includes the airlines themselves since they all are having problems staying afloat!

 

[DW-Admin]

We live in cleveland and Continental is a hub here. This leaves us with great options on airfare. There is a 7:45 AM flight from CLE to MCO and we normally get great deals on there. My range for coach on that flight has been 168-260 per person r/t and the first class averages 600-718 r/t. Overall we pretty my fly the two same flight numbers every time we go and booking out starts about 6 months in advance for us at least...

 

[postesf]

I just booked our flights last weekend for our May 2 trip on SW. The price would go up and down, but then a DING came out and although those rates were gone by the time I could book, the Webfare had still come down quite a bit.

Stacie

 

[DeeCee735]

I book as soon as flights come out with Jet Blue. I've never seen them go down for my flights, but I will now look out for that. I didn't know they'd give a voucher for a future flight if the price went down. I just booked about a three weeks ago for my Oct trip. I think I paid an okay price, not great.