How long do you wait to book a flight for Nov/Dec???

[zamboniman333]

How long would or do you guys wait to book a flight to Orlando or a near by airport? We live in Minneapolis MN and have a trip booked for Nov 30 - Dec11 2010!!! We have been watching flights and over the last 3 weeks they have just gone up over $100.00. About 3 weeks ago we saw a flight for about $210.00 per person including Tax (we need 3 seats our daughter will be 2+) We thought that was a good price but we weren't 100% sure on or Disney dates so didn't want to book the flight until we were 100% sure on dates and length of stay. OK so now we are book at The World!!! and the prices are around $310 to $330 for the flights we want. Just wondering how long you guys would wait. I think the prices will come back down but maybe that is just wishful thinking?

Thanks for your thoughts.

We would be willing to fly into the other Orlando airport or Tampa if you guys think oyu can get a better deal flying into one of them?

 

[zamboniman333]

Forgot to say we are renting a car no matter what so we don't need to worry about a bus or anything.

 

[mommyof3princess27]

as soon as the dated become available and the price looks good

 

[Disney Ella]

There's no way to absolutely know when the best prices are going to be released, so you just have to pick a price range you are comfortable with from your airport. For me, it is $200RT or under from Philadelphia. When I see something under $200, I take it. A few times prices have gone down after I booked, but usually not by much. A lot of times, prices have only gone up after I booked, so I figure it all evens out in the end. I know it's hard to make that decision to book when you aren't sure if there's going to be a better deal around the corner.

 

[zamboniman333]

Thanks!

Anything under $250 (with Tax we will book it up!

I know it's really hard to say but 3 weeks ago the prices were in our range about 210 to 220 with Tax, now they are 310 to 350. What do you think the chances are they come back down to our range. Or do you think there is a better day to book than the other? I knwo it's kind of like a crap shoot just looking for thoughts/ideas! and i am allready thankful for both of your posts!

Thank you very much!

 

[dpmfloyd]

my only suggestion, when you're ready to purchase... purchase on a thursday. I was watching flight prices and i noticed they were $30-$50 depending on the day of the week. Thursdays have always shown me the lowest possible fares.

but anything under $250 is gold! I booked our next trip for $205/each. That was the lowest I saw. On weekends, the exact same tickets were $40 more. on Fridays...$50.

 

[Bob P]

Hi,

To echo what has been said already: checking airfare prices is like investing in the stock market! Sometimes you look really smart by waiting, and sometimes, well...not so smart. Sometimes the price will go up, and sometimes it will go down.

Are you a gambler? My opinion is: if you are comfortable with the price now you should book it.

 

[zamboniman333]

Thanks everyone we will keep watching. Do you guys always fly to Orlando? Or do you ever fly into Tampa? Prices seem comparable to fly into both.

Thank you and have a great day!

 

[budbeerlady]

If the price is the same I would fly into MCO. I am looking for mid-December and am very surprised how high flights are right now. Ughhh!

 

[JoeCathyAngelina]

We look for Non-stops, decent flight times and low price. On the major Airlines the minute the flights are released is usually the best price.
Last year, 4/2009 we flew into MCO on Delta, $627 total for the 3 of us, I booked that flight in 6/2008, the prices only went up after the day we booked that flight.
This year, 4/2010 we're flying into Tampa on Delta, $717 total for the 3 of us, I booked that flight in 6/2009, the price only went up since then.
Next year, 4/2011 we're flying into Sanford on a local Charter. I booked that flight Monday 4/12/10, $447 total for the 3 of us. The price for that flight is already up to $1,245 for the 3 of us.
Good luck all,
Joe

 

[shan136]

It may be a good idea to sign up to yapta.com, a site which will alert you to price changes for your selected flights.

We are going to WDW from November 27 to December 4 and I am holding off for better prices since Jet Blue, Allegiant and Southwest haven't released their schedule for Nov/Dec yet.

In February, Delta had the only non-stop out of Bradley for our dates and their only non-stop flights were $900+ round-trip each, which is CRAZY. Delta flights from BDL have come down to around 430 each which I think is still too expensive, especially since Delta charges $25 per checked bag, each way. I'm hoping I can get cheaper fares and a more flexible schedule.

 

[zamboniman333]

Thanks guys!!!

 

[Missytara]

my only suggestion, when you're ready to purchase... purchase on a thursday. I was watching flight prices and i noticed they were $30-$50 depending on the day of the week. Thursdays have always shown me the lowest possible fares.

but anything under $250 is gold! I booked our next trip for $205/each. That was the lowest I saw. On weekends, the exact same tickets were $40 more. on Fridays...$50.

My theory is that people are normally all home on the weekends to plan, so airfares seem to go up a bit during the weekend from Friday to Monday (assuming some people who do flex time). I noted that prices come down Tuesday through Thursday, and are often a bit cheaper very early in the morning. I booked my flight at 6:00 am when I got to work, and by the time my friends booked theirs around lunchtime, they paid about $25.00 more each way than I did.

 

[zamboniman333]

just playing the waiting game!

 

[Snoozan]

I bit the bullet and booked my flights for 11/27-12/3/10 last night. I am flying Jetblue for the first time out of Hartford. I ended up paying $260, which I am happy with, with excellent times and non-stop. I didn't dare wait for Southwest to come out with their schedule as I'm flying on the Saturday of T-day weekend, plus flying home on a Friday so I know these days are usually higher priced than mid-week dates. I checked JB's site this AM and already shows only 2 seats left at the current price so I know I did the right thing in booking this soon. Checking against Delta's current prices, I saved hundreds of $$$ for about the same times/non-stops. Now I just have to stop checking fares as there's not much I can do about it now!

 

[zamboniman333]

I bit the bullet and booked my flights for 11/27-12/3/10 last night. I am flying Jetblue for the first time out of Hartford. I ended up paying $260, which I am happy with, with excellent times and non-stop. I didn't dare wait for Southwest to come out with their schedule as I'm flying on the Saturday of T-day weekend, plus flying home on a Friday so I know these days are usually higher priced than mid-week dates. I checked JB's site this AM and already shows only 2 seats left at the current price so I know I did the right thing in booking this soon. Checking against Delta's current prices, I saved hundreds of $$$ for about the same times/non-stops. Now I just have to stop checking fares as there's not much I can do about it now!

Nice if I saw $260 from Minneapolis I would book it today!!

 

[luvleedeas]

I have quickly learned do not wait! The price goes up. Its supply and demand. Good luck

 

[sjs314]

It may be a good idea to sign up to yapta.com, a site which will alert you to price changes for your selected flights.

We are going to WDW from November 27 to December 4 and I am holding off for better prices since Jet Blue, Allegiant and Southwest haven't released their schedule for Nov/Dec yet.

In February, Delta had the only non-stop out of Bradley for our dates and their only non-stop flights were $900+ round-trip each, which is CRAZY. Delta flights from BDL have come down to around 430 each which I think is still too expensive, especially since Delta charges $25 per checked bag, each way. I'm hoping I can get cheaper fares and a more flexible schedule.

I booked are reservations with Disney back on Feb 4th, at the time Delta out of BDL was showing $437, I kept checking for over 2 months only once seeing a good price drop to $250 for our dates but I decided to hold off waiting for either JB out of HPN or SW to post Nov fares.

Yesterday I got lucky JB fares came out and I was able to book fo $244.40 RT non-stop pp. I jumped on it....will they go down, maybe but I think if it looks like a good fare that you can live with go for it. You just never know with this economy and oil prices what the future holds for fares.

I am happy and now I can stop stressing over watching fares and relax for the next 7 months until my vacation.

 

[sjs314]

I bit the bullet and booked my flights for 11/27-12/3/10 last night. I am flying Jetblue for the first time out of Hartford. I ended up paying $260, which I am happy with, with excellent times and non-stop. I didn't dare wait for Southwest to come out with their schedule as I'm flying on the Saturday of T-day weekend, plus flying home on a Friday so I know these days are usually higher priced than mid-week dates. I checked JB's site this AM and already shows only 2 seats left at the current price so I know I did the right thing in booking this soon. Checking against Delta's current prices, I saved hundreds of $$$ for about the same times/non-stops. Now I just have to stop checking fares as there's not much I can do about it now!

You got a great deal IMO, Your dates are what we were originally going to go to WDW this year , that was until I checked the fares on Delta out of BDL for Dec and saw they were over $1000 rt non-stop, so we changed to Nov not likeing Delta fares at the time ($447) but doable if we had to, lucky for us we booked JB for $244

 

[Minnesota!]

I would wait - AIrtran hasn't released those dates yet, and I would be willing to bet you can score your tickets for about $215/person max. Those dates should be out within the next month or so.

We always fly them out of MSP and the prices are great..