How many months in advance are the best fares typically offered?

[mill4023]

I know none of you have a crystal ball(if you do, let me know), but I'm just wondering when you think the best fares are likely to be available?
We're planning a trip for 3/25 - 4/8.
Right now, the fares are really high. About $480 out of Medford, OR (where we live) and about $350 out of Portland, OR (5 hour drive from us).

For our first trip (this past May), we bought our tickets about 2 months before our trip and got fares of about $220 out of Portland. Since we're 6 months out, I'm hoping the fares will come down. I'm also waiting to see what we can get on Southwest. For the next few months, SW has fares around $200 out or Portland.

So I figure it's a little too soon to be buying tickets, but I also know that when it gets really close to the trip dates, the prices will go really high. Any guesses on when I should assume that the prices are as good as they are going to get?

 

[brentalex]

I don't think there is any real answer. I think the airlines change their prices all the time and for who knows what reasons. If you have the time, I would just check the airlines websites as often as possible to see if the prices change. I did that for our upcoming trip next April. The roundtrip prices for non stop flights was about 700 per person. Then all of a sudden the prices on Song went way down for a few days. I got round trip tickets for 250 per person. Now the prices are back up to 700 or more. So I got this price almost 9 months out. Who knows if the prices will come down this low again. The best thing is just to keep watch on them

 

[PJV57]

I booked my flights with Song about 3 months out. But I read on Mousesavers that generally you can get the best airfares about 6 months out and again about 2 to 2.5 months prior to departure.

As brentalex said, keep checking as often as possible (every day if you can). That's what I did. All of a sudden the price began dropping steadily from $435 down to $210. Good luck!

 

[Brian Noble]

It depends on the route you are flying and the season. For example, for DTW-MCO, the best time to get September fares is often in late July or August; it's so slow then that the airlines are scrambling to fill seats at the last minute. On the other hand, in Feburary (when everyone has had it up to here with winter), the best fares are often gone six months in advance. On the third hand, DTW-SEA (for example) is easy to get in the winter (when I often had to go), but a tough ticket in the summer (when Seattle is actually pleasant.)

Once you are inside of four or six weeks, the price is very unlikely to go down. In the meantime, if you see a fare you like, buy it. If you are prone to buyers remorse, never check the fares again once you pull the trigger.

 

[mill4023]

Thanks for the tips.
I'm not sure where I saw the $350. It actually looks like the cheapest out of Portland is around $400. I can't see myself paying $2400 for airfare for the 6 of us, so I'm really hoping the fares will come down. It looks like Southwest has $99 one way's available on many different dates (including some saturday flights) between now and January. Hopefully, that trend will continue when their March flights become available.

 

[erikthewise]

Obviously it depends on a lot of things, but I've had good luck with 3-4 months out. It seems that they want to soak the obsessive buy-far-in-advance people as well as the last-minute business traveler.

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

We will be flying out of Portland in July 06, as of now it looks like fares are running around $280-300 per person. I'm really hoping to get a SW Ding fare or some great special between now and then. Have you looked at flying out of Eugene? I keep checking out prices for both there and Portland keeping my fingers crossed for a great sale!
I myself have even looked at flying from Seattle, its only about 4 hours from me and if I could save a buch of $$$ you bet I'd take the 4 hour drive to Washington~!
Good luck , I hope you find an awesome deal!

 

[rsschneck]

I keep an eye on airfare from PDX regularly. Right now the airfares EVERYWHERE are EXPENSIVE! We usually spend around $225 to go to Orlando. You are looking at going Spring Break and airfares are going to be higher. Keep your eyes on Southwest. When they open their fares either book with them or give the other airlines a day or two to try and meet Southwest's fares. I think you will be paying in the $250 to $300 range. Spring Break is busy and airfares usually are not a bargain during that time.

Good Luck!

 

[ajfargo]

One thing I found that works for me is to determine what I want to pay for the trip. Then I check fares weekly, usually late Tues night/early Wed morning. As soon as the fare gets to that price, I book it. I accept the fact that fares may go down after that, but they may go up. Once I book the trip, I don't look at the fares anymore. I am happy with what I got.

Allen

 

[mill4023]

We will be flying out of Portland in July 06, as of now it looks like fares are running around $280-300 per person. I'm really hoping to get a SW Ding fare or some great special between now and then. Have you looked at flying out of Eugene? I keep checking out prices for both there and Portland keeping my fingers crossed for a great sale!
I myself have even looked at flying from Seattle, its only about 4 hours from me and if I could save a buch of $$$ you bet I'd take the 4 hour drive to Washington~!
Good luck , I hope you find an awesome deal!

Yeah, I'm keeping my eye on Medford, Eugene, Portland, and even San Francisco and Oakland(about 6-7 hrs drive from us).
I'm not very hopeful of getting a decent price out of Medford or Eugene though. There's just not enough competition at either airport and in the past, Portland's almost always been quite a bit cheaper.
I hate to drive 5 hours to the airport, but with 6 tickets to buy, the difference between $300 each and $400 each is pretty substantial.

I think you will be paying in the $250 to $300 range. Spring Break is busy and airfares usually are not a bargain during that time.
Good Luck!

If I can get tickets for 3/25-4/8 for under $300 each, I'll be pretty happy. If I can get one of Southwest's $99 one way fares, I'd be thrilled.

 

[mill4023]

One thing I found that works for me is to determine what I want to pay for the trip. Then I check fares weekly, usually late Tues night/early Wed morning. As soon as the fare gets to that price, I book it. I accept the fact that fares may go down after that, but they may go up. Once I book the trip, I don't look at the fares anymore. I am happy with what I got.

Allen

Yeah, but what if they never get to that price. You still have to decide how soon to buy to make sure they don't start going way up again.