Question about flights

[iluvtheworld]

Does anyone know when airlines release flights for January 2012? I am looking at Westjet and currently you can only book up until Oct. 29th. I am in planning mode and want to estimate my airfare!

 

[dis_guy]

Does anyone know when airlines release flights for January 2012? I am looking at Westjet and currently you can only book up until Oct. 29th. I am in planning mode and want to estimate my airfare!

In my experience WJ doesn't book as far ahead as the other carriers. Air Canada is booking to Dec 20 and United to the end of Nov, so be patient your dates will be up in good time.

Remember if you see a good fare, grab it!

 

[cpbjgc]

When you book out far ahead, just be sure to check your itinerary every now and then, as many airlines (and in our experience, always with Westjet flying out of Winnipeg) will change schedules and routes as they get closer to actual flight times. We booked in June 2010 for our flights in March 2011 and were changed from direct to connecting flights, arriving 8 hours later and coming home the day after we were orginally scheduled (with a layover in Toronto). I only found out about the changes as I was checking the itinerary myself.

 

[mtmbyck]

Guessing they'll be out by spring. I booked west jet for Jan 2010 in July 2009 with amazing deals.

 

[lady_bug_888]

In my experience, it is best to check for flights around the 9 mth. prior mark and anytime up until around 3-4 months out. After that you have to be careful and check about 6 weeks prior (or less) but I always keep checking. Also be sure to check the regular travel websites like travelocity, expedia, orbitz and the like. Personally I have found way more deals on travelocity than I ever have direct from an airline or hotel company. For example, my family is flying from Calgary to Orlando in August (1 stop) at desirable hours (leave 2pm arrive 11pm; leave 3:30 pm arrive 9:30 pm) and our flight cost a grand total of $1011 and change for THREE people. That includes all taxes and fees. I got the deal by being vigilant and searching every week or so for desired dates that I had pre-selected and being willing to travel out of Calgary as opposed to my 1st choice which would have been Edmonton (it was about $600 MORE to fly from Edmonton).

Good luck!

_____________

225 more days until our 1st trip to DW as a family!

 

[MikeyNS]

Yah, I wouldn't jump on them right when they're released. Be patient and wait for a sale.. the sales WILL come!

 

[iluvtheworld]

Thanks everyone. I guess I have to wait a little while longer. Do you really think that I will get a better deal if I wait? I am afraid of booking my dates at BLT and then not being able to get a flight for those dates.

cpbjgc: We will be flying out of Winnipeg as well. Did you end up changing your times or did you just go with what you were given. I can't believe you weren't informed! I would not be happy with an overnight layover in Toronto as we will be travelling with 3 children ages 7 and under.

 

[MikeyNS]

Thanks everyone. I guess I have to wait a little while longer. Do you really think that I will get a better deal if I wait? I am afraid of booking my dates at BLT and then not being able to get a flight for those dates.

cpbjgc: We will be flying out of Winnipeg as well. Did you end up changing your times or did you just go with what you were given. I can't believe you weren't informed! I would not be happy with an overnight layover in Toronto as we will be travelling with 3 children ages 7 and under.

I think there's a really good chance you'll get a better deal. WestJet and Air Canada seem to have a 20% off all flights sale every few months. Even the direct flight from Halifax that I've been watching (and have booked with points) is at its cheapest point now, and we're less than 2 months out.

 

[cpbjgc]

...

cpbjgc: We will be flying out of Winnipeg as well. Did you end up changing your times or did you just go with what you were given. I can't believe you weren't informed! I would not be happy with an overnight layover in Toronto as we will be travelling with 3 children ages 7 and under.

We ended up changing our times as the new ones did not work for us. Because they made the scedule change, we were able to change the times without charge, but I am still watching the flights. The last time this happened they kept changing the time for the connecting flight to the point that we had a really short time to connect. The flight did work out for us, but it made us nervous about making the connection (would have been an overnight for us as the other flights that day were full).

 

[KB'sMom]

Thanks everyone. I guess I have to wait a little while longer. Do you really think that I will get a better deal if I wait? I am afraid of booking my dates at BLT and then not being able to get a flight for those dates.

cpbjgc: We will be flying out of Winnipeg as well. Did you end up changing your times or did you just go with what you were given. I can't believe you weren't informed! I would not be happy with an overnight layover in Toronto as we will be travelling with 3 children ages 7 and under.

You've got tons of time! We booked our flights for our Jan 2011 trip in November 2010 - so only 2 months prior. We opted to not fly WJ though as the flight times and prices were cheaper elsewhere. We fly there at 7:45am, arrive Orlando at 3:45. To come home we leave at 2:15pm and arrive home at 8:00pm. With WJ we were looking at 7am or earlier departures with arrivals at 10 or 11pm - not ideal with young children. Return price was $430 each - which from Regina seemed like a great price. I think we booked through Expedia - we just put in our dates and chose the least expensive flights with the best times rather than sticking with one airline.