How far in advance to purchase for June 2013 flight?

[jamzmama]

I've been looking at airfare for early June from kansas city (mci) and the prices have been consistently high. My question - is there still a chance for me to find a cheaper flight between now and the 4 month mark or will it go up even more now that I'm looking for a flight less than 6 months in advance? Any thoughts are appreciated. If you see any worthwhile deals out there it would be appreciated too. The cheapest deal I've seen so far is $312 round trip. Southwest also has $165 each way which seemed kinda high especially if you have a family of 6 to buy for.

 

[sam_gordon]

I've been looking at airfare for early June from kansas city (mci) and the prices have been consistently high. My question - is there still a chance for me to find a cheaper flight between now and the 4 month mark or will it go up even more now that I'm looking for a flight less than 6 months in advance? Any thoughts are appreciated. If you see any worthwhile deals out there it would be appreciated too. The cheapest deal I've seen so far is $312 round trip. Southwest also has $165 each way which seemed kinda high especially if you have a family of 6 to buy for.

I'll tell you EXACTLY when the cheapest air fare will be if you'll tell me the next Powerball numbers are.

Yes, there is a chance for you to find a cheaper flight. There's also a chance the price stays high. Although not a true indicator, keep watching and seeing if the planes are filling up (look at the seat maps). If they stay relatively empty, there's a better chance of the price coming down.

FWIW, I purchased our tickets for next June 4 months ago. To get a cheaper rate, we're flying Fri-Mon (10 days). The weekly rate has stayed high.

 

[jamzmama]

I guess that's what I'll have to keep doing. Unfortunately we're going sat to sat. Thanks for the response.

 

[dd53]

I've been told that the best fares are about 6 weeks-2 months out unless you are booking with Southwest or Airtran which start out low when they are released and then climb. Since I have a family of 10 to book for (only 2 adults), I booked Airtran the day it came out so we could all be on same flight and sit together. If I had family of 2-4 I would probably wait longer to book and watch for sales.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

I've found June flights to be expensive in the past. With that, I've already booked with AirTran, as I found a fare I could live with. I needed 6 tickets so that adds to the challenge.

 

[mcraige]

As soon as you find airfare within your budget, buy it and don't ever look back.

 

[Propro]

As soon as you find airfare within your budget, buy it and don't ever look back.

...unless you book on one of the airlines that will give you a credit if the price drops. Southwest is one of them.

 

[jamzmama]

Yeah I found one a few weeks ago for AirTran that was $121 each way which I thought was ok but I didn't get it thinking that southwest may have cheaper flights that are also direct that's why I didn't buy them. Now I'm thinking maybe I should have.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

I don't know if this is going to help you but I will tell you about buying my early June flights last year on Southwest. The fares came out I think around November and I took my time trying to decide if we should get them. Then on Dec. 23 , the fares dropped, even for the nonstops which is what I wanted. I guess no one is thinking about buying flights 2 days before xmas and that is why they were down? I was really sick that day and couldn't make up my mind and when I checked back a few days later the nonstops were high again. I ended up getting them in Jan. and not getting nonstops b/c they were too high and never did go down.
Anyway, you might want to hold on till right before xmas. My theory is that the fares go up when more people are interested in planning trips. Weekends or during Christmas or spring break when they are on the internet more for example. Good luck.
BTW, I was buying flights from Pittsburgh.

 

[jamzmama]

Thanks for the advice. I've been just been checking it everyday hoping that flights will go down. The AirTran flights that I saw were still wide open so I'm hoping either AirTran or southwest goes down. But thanks for advice.