How long do you wait...

[Wendy5055]

to book your airfare before your trip to WDW?

My trip is 3 months out and I have hesitated to book in the hopes that the pricing will go down...any thoughts?

 

[maxiesmom]

I haven't booked yet for my flight in April. Usually I book as soon as I find a rate I can live with, but flying the week after Easter, nothing is cheap.

The search Engine Bing keeps telling me to wait, so I'm trusting it for now. But I do plan on buying within the next week or two, because I just can't bring myself to wait until the last minute. I feel like I am cutting it close now.

 

[ancestry]

I book when the airfare hits a fair price - not necessarily a cheap price.

I'm always afraid to wait too long because it seems in my case the airfare usually goes up and not down. Also it makes a difference as to how many people are flying with me. When there are a group of us (over 2 people) I like to book early so we can get seats together. For our Disney trips I usually book the airfare about 4 months in advance.

So aw long as the price is something I can afford and is reasonable I book.

 

[Virtucomp]

We usually use Southwest's internet only fare. I watched the prices for flights up until May 7th. (out trip is May 17th). As soon as the new bookings were available I booked. The price only goes up from there.

It has worked for me for the past three trips.

 

[Paticake]

We usually book when SW first releases the dates we want. I then watch for prices to come down. We booked in Dec for May and the prices have only gone up since the release date.

 

[Pink Flamingo]

Over the years, I've found that the prices go up the closer it gets to our departure date, so I've learned to book early (we fly AirTran & Delta ~ usually summer travel dates).

I've already booked our June flight. Now I'm just patiently waiting for June to get here.

 

[Detailor]

I usually have a price range in mind that I think is acceptable rather than holding out for the absolutely lowest price. So once I have lodging plans made I start looking for air reservations and make them as soon as I find something that's in or near my price range, from an airport that I want to fly from and with an airline that I want to fly with.

The timing for hitting those criteria tends to vary for when I'm travelling.
For our February or March trips to Orlando we've made air reservations at 4 1/2, 5 1/2, 5, 5 and 3 1/2 months out from our departure dates over the past few years. And for our late Spring/early Summer trip it's been 3 1/2, 3, 3, and 2 months before departure for our last four trips. Our winter trips have tended to be with JetBlue or Delta from Vermont or Boston while the summer trip has usually been with Southwest from New Hampshire.

Dick Taylor

 

[cg1200]

We usually fly JetBlue so the prices are normally reasonable from the get-go. If I can get $250/person round trip I will book as far in advance as possible. We're going Thanksgiving this year so I'm sure it's going to be much higher than usual.

 

[Deb Harnett]

I book as soon as possible. Once the airfare is booked the rest follows

 

[Tozzie]

to book your airfare before your trip to WDW?

My trip is 3 months out and I have hesitated to book in the hopes that the pricing will go down...any thoughts?

I am actually going exactly 2 months from today and I haven't even looked at airfare. I fly Delta, I don't care for Jet Blue and you couldn't pay me enough to fly Southwest. I will eventually get around to it , usually 4-6 weeks before my trip.

 

[Girlie1]

If you are interested in flying out of White Plains, fares for Airtran just went down to their lowest point yet. I do not know if they will go much lower but if you buy and the price goes lower, they will give you a credit. Some of the JetBlue flights went down in price but I still think they are too high. I would not wait much longer

 

[cg1200]

If you are interested in flying out of White Plains, fares for Airtran just went down to their lowest point yet. I do not know if they will go much lower but if you buy and the price goes lower, they will give you a credit. Some of the JetBlue flights went down in price but I still think they are too high. I would not wait much longer

I'm going around Thanksgiving. Neither JB or Airtran have their rates posted yet for Nov. Fingers crossed it isn't obscene.

I'd also think twice about Airtran. They change their departure times a lot and once they converted a direct flight to one with 1 stop. No thanks. JB is a little more but they've been rock solid the last 2 or 3 times.

 

[PoohsFan1]

I book as soon as possible. Once the airfare is booked the rest follows

That is exactly how we feel too. Once we know the time frame that we want to go, we always go to the different carriers and see who has the best deal. We have also found out that it is cheaper to fly out on a Tuesday or Wednesday. I also like to book as soon as I can due to we always pick our seats (regardless if we pay for it or not) because we like sit towards the front of the plane, and if we wait, then we may have to settle for wherever is open.