Should I be worried? Air Question

[joats]

Does anyone know how far in advance they schedule flights?

We still haven't booked our air fare for our Sept trip as we may need to cancel as DH lost his job. Unless he finds a new one by the end of July when the balance is due, we can't go.

I looked at flights tonight, just to price and see what is available...there isn't much. Do they add other flights as it gets closer to the time frame? Or could they all just book up and then we really are not going?

Anyone have any experience/knowledge about this? Any ideas or experience would help.

Thanks!

 

[DebbieB]

September is a slow month for air travel, they will probably not add flights. Since 9/11, the airlines have cut flights and have been flying planes as full as possible. Keep checking, my early May flight dropped around the middle of March.

 

[BrerMom]

Does anyone know how far in advance they schedule flights?

The major airlines (except for Southwest) start selling tickets 330 days out. Southwest releases new dates every month or so and seems to keep things around 6 months out.

 

[Jillpie]

I don't have an answer for you, but I just want to say I'll say a quick prayer for your husband's job. At this time last year, we were in your very same shoes. I KNOW what you are going through. We had to cancel two DW trips last year. But the good news is he found a job after 8 long months (he's in computer I.T.) and we finally got to go on our trip in January. Hang in there, he'll find something. It may not be as soon as you want it, but it'll happen. I truly understand what you are going through.

 

[Christine]

We booked our July airfare at the end of May. It is not so much about having enough seats, but are there enough seats at the good prices?

I found that when I was booking the prices were changing daily. Some days the four seats I needed were available at one price, but not available at a lower price and then the next day or the next week they would be available at the lower price. And then they wouldn't be available...

It's a big game. I don't think you are going to get *shut out* of flying. In fact, since September is such a slow travel month, you may end up getting a bargain by waiting until August to book.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We got our tickets for 9/26 on Delta last week, and when DH looked at the chart of the plane online, he said that most seats were full. If you aren't too particular about one specific flight though, I'd think you'd be able to find something, as long as you don't have a large group.

Hope things work out for your DH to find a job soon!

 

[alexturner74]

Be aware that when you book or look at the seating chart online, it is not necessarily a true indicator of how full the plane is. A lot of seats that appear to be unavailable may actually just be blocked off for sale later, or to be made available at the airport.

 

[joats]

Thank you everyone for your responses...I new that I had come to the right place for my question. Hopefully if DH does get a new job, we can keep our booking at WL and manage to get airline tickets as well. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed!

p.s. Thanks for your prayer Jillpie, we need all we can get with the job market for Graphic Design - urgh, there's not much out there.