How far in advance to you buy your airplane tix?

[ziggystardust]

I'm thinking about a long weekend during the end of September (last weekend possible first few days of Oct).

My question is do you buy the tix as early as you can (even though they are as of now about $20 each way more than what I paid this last Dec), so you can guarantee an OK rate and a seat

OR

Do you wait a few months (like early summer) to see if any price wars start between the airlines or some unexpectant sales occur?

Thanks for the help!

 

[shafke]

We booked airfare for out April trip in Sept. If we had waited we would be driving. For the time that we want to fly we would be paying double what we payed in Sept. We probably could have gotten a better fare by flying during off hours (really early or really late). The proble is that we have two kids. If you get a flight that is too early or too late their whole schedule will be thrown off and you have cranky kids followed by cranky parents.

If you are felxible in your travel times you might be able to get a better fare but you might not.

 

[ziggystardust]

shafke - thanks for your input, I'm literally around the corner from you in Merrick.

Small world!

 

[KilleriMac17]

We got our airfare for april trip on dec 24th, after watching it for bit since airfares go up and down, so far the price has gone up over $120.
we will probably buy or tics for october when we come back from our april trip

 

[Kaybee]

As far as buying airfare be sure you buy from an airline that isn't on the verge of bankruptcy or close to it. We are trying to buy tickets for May and am running into all kinds of trouble with booking. My TA won't sell me tickets to Delta, ATA, United...she said they are very unstable and are on the verge of bankruptcy. So beware!!

 

[turboshelbys]

i usually get ours 2 months before the vacation, unless its by the first of the year. that is usually when most of the "deals" are released. normally i book with the airline, but this time i tried cheaptickets and saved about $200 on three tickets. it was from detroit, mi non-stop to orlando, fl for 8 days. total cost for the three was $508.55.

 

[NotUrsula]

If you have "locked-in-stone" dates, it can be good to buy well in advance. Ask around here for info on your route and dates; someone will usually know what the avg. price is on the route at that season. Knowing the avg. price is important, b/c then when you see a price that is better, you will know to grab it immediately. If you are travelling in a holiday season, well in advance is almost always the way to go; prices rise as the seats fill on the available flights.

There is another strategy, which is what we use, but it only works if you don't have to give long advance notice of your plans. We wait for sales to be announced, and that decides when we will go. We plan general season, like "we'd like to go sometime in late spring", but we don't get more specific than that until we find a good sale fare.

Also, we usually fly SWA, and they will always let you change your reservations without penalty charges, crediting any price difference in the fares so that you can use it later for another flight.

 

[pumpkinboy]

If we're going at a busy time, like school vacation, I book waaaay ahead. For example, for April school vacation (in MA, ME and some school districts in other nearby states), we booked 331 days in advance, the first day tix went on sale for those dates. Locked in the best times, and the rates are about the same as what we paid in May. Of course, we were also trying to use FF miles for some of the tix, and succeeded in getting 3 of the 6 for FF miles.

For off peak times, like our recent trip down over MLK day, I will watch the fares and buy when there is a sale. We bought these tix in November.