When do you book airfare for a summer trip?

[Aliceacc]

We've just booked another WDW trip for next summer... a month before my son leaves for college.

I always tend to book airfare for our summer trips during the week between Christmas and New Years. I've always been happy with the fares (from NY, in case that matters).

Is there a time that works better? A particular time or day that works better in terms of booking? We travel (both ways) on Wednesdays.

Any other secrets you want to share?

 

[BostonJP]

Without regard to summer or winter travel, my general strategy is to exhaustively research multiple sites (my two favorites are Skiplagged and Kayak) for several days mid-week, about two months before my flight. Tuesday and Wednesday always seem to be the best days to book. Once I see what the pricing trends are for one week, the following week I'll do it again and grab the flight that I think will give me the best value.

You can be picky coming from New York. I lived in SW Connecticut years ago and I loved the flexibility of being able to search JFK, LGA, and EWR for the best flight (though based on my last two Disney flights I'll be avoiding Newark from now on!).

 

[Aliceacc]

We tend to find the best times and the most variety from JFK, though last trip we left from LAG and returned to JFK-- the flexibility is wonderful!! We could even us Islip if we found the right flights.

And, like you, I tend to track prices on Kayak-- I'll have to check Skiplagged. Thank you!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I bought the airfare for our main trip this summer, which is next week, in January. The price I paid for three people then was a little over $1400.00 total (IAD-LAX nonstop). Today the same flights would be a total of $3,048.00.

There are no tricks. Just familiarize yourself with typical prices and buy when you see something you can live with.