how far in advance for best airfare

[dmband]

sorry if this has been asked, searching this is hard to narrow down

generally speaking, will i get the best price on airfare the farthest away i can buy it from my trip?

i want to fly jet blue and know the cost of yrs past for the same travel week.
the dates were just released for sale and are on the higher end of average
the same dates went up $50 a person in one week.

do i buy now, or hold out hoping they go down? (i know there is no real answer, but give me your thoughts on if prices ever really go down or they just keep going up as it gets closer to the travel date/plane fills up)

thanks in advance

ps - i know they say if the price goes down they will adjust it, but i have never once been able to get any airline to do that.
they always have some reason on why my seats don't qualify

 

[LuLuO]

Let me preface this by saying that I am not an expert. In my experience, prices do not go down as much as they did years ago. Airlines want to fly full planes and have cut back on the number of flights to do so. Is it worth it to wait? A lot depends on your needs. What time of year are you going? Are you flexible with your dates and times? Do you want nonstop or are you willing to have one or two layovers if that is all that is left in a few months time?

When we are flying with the kids we are less flexible with our times and we want nonstop. So I am willing to book as soon as flights open up so as not to miss out on the specific flights that we want and I probably pay more for it but to me it is worth it to have the plans set. With going to Disney, only one airline flies out of our airport nonstop to MCO so I am very limited.

When DH and I fly alone we are more flexible. We don't mind layovers. We don't mind flying at odd times so we will wait and check prices every day to see what they're doing.

You can sign up for something like Kayak and get email alerts and Kayak will search your trip nightly and send you an email update so you can track prices. There are other sites that will do similar searches for you.

ETA: Love your screen name.

 

[MacFam4]

I booked our airfare in March for our upcoming November trip. I know what the average/good price is to fly out of our small airport, and when the numbers came up, I booked. I watched the flights off and on and they stayed steady for about a month, then started to climb. Now they're significantly higher than what I paid. I only fly about once every year or two, so I'm definitely no expert. But if you see a number you can live with, you might consider booking. Good luck

 

[sam_gordon]

Picking some random dates for round trip flight (via Delta) out of my home airport:
10/22/11-10/29/11 $219.80
12/3/11-12/10/11 $219.80
5/19/12-5/26/12 $201.80
6/2/12-6/9/12 $240.30
6/9/12-6/16/12 $338.20

This is all to Orlando. I will say when we booked our flights for our summer trip this year, I booked them about 1-2 weeks after they announced (Delta announces 330 days out). They NEVER got as cheap as what I got them.

If it will bother you if prices drop (and you can't get refunds or credit or something), once you get what you can afford, buy it, and NEVER LOOK AGAIN.

 

[dis_guy]

My observations are much like the others who have posted here already. For our Dec 31-Jan 7 trip, we booked our flights in April, just as soon as we decided to go.

I'd been watching for a while and when the prices went up a few hundred dollars (for four) I waited. Once the old price came back, I booked them. While the highest we've ever paid (United- flying from Canada), the price has done nothing but go up since. Currently for four tickets it has gone up $1200 over what we paid. So, yeah, book early, as soon as you get a fare you can live with.

Now, for those willing to live on the edge, we have seen fantastic prices for departures less than a week from the booking date. It seems airlines wait until the very last minute to drop the prices to fill up the last seats on a flight. I wouldn't want a Disney reservation at risk doing this but at less busy times you can get last minute Disney reservations once you have a flight available. This certainly won't work for peak or holiday travel times. Once I'm retired, I want to try a really last minute trip!

 

[saradela]

International , 6 month in advance. Used to work for Mexicana Airlines.

 

[dmband]

thanks guys
i have been doing some watching and today sealed it for me, i def think it is best to jump on as early as poss
example
last sunday (7/17) the same dates/flight/number of people was $2800
7/24 it was $3090
today (7/26) it is $3340
so for 5 people, non stop the price went up $540 over 9 days

LuLuo - most of my airline fare cost is due to the things you mentioned
time of yr - typically "holiday" weeks
non stop is a must - 2 adults, 4 kids who will be under 7
on a side note one of the best trips to disney included a pitstop to see 2 shows in west palm 7/01

 

[LuLuO]

thanks guys
i have been doing some watching and today sealed it for me, i def think it is best to jump on as early as poss
example
last sunday (7/17) the same dates/flight/number of people was $2800
7/24 it was $3090
today (7/26) it is $3340
so for 5 people, non stop the price went up $540 over 9 days

LuLuo - most of my airline fare cost is due to the things you mentioned
time of yr - typically "holiday" weeks
non stop is a must - 2 adults, 4 kids who will be under 7
on a side note one of the best trips to disney included a pitstop to see 2 shows in west palm 7/01

Disney and DMB? Now that is a Magical trip.