When do you book flights?

[todd222222]

When booking rooms 7 to 11 months in the future when do you book your flights?

Do you book them once your DVC reservation is done?
Do you wait a couple of months and book 5 or 6 months out?

Or do you just wait for the right airfare knowing that it's going to happen at some point? If this is the answer what is your drop dead date?

Thanks!
Todd

 

[CKDKMK]

I fly out of DFW area just like you and usually watch prices daily (if possible) and then when I feel like I got the best deal, I purchase. I have found that I find the best deals around 3 months out. I sign up for fare sales to be sent to my email to help keep a eye on price.

I usually book flight after booking room.

 

[ACDSNY]

Once I have my reservation I start watching airfare on a daily basis. As soon as the price is between $210 - $230 for the times I want to fly, then I buy them. The last few trips have been more than six months before our trips.

 

[alldiz]

I fly Southwest....

So if the airfares are released already.....I will book them....

I know they will go down.....but I'll get a credit for
my next trip
Kerri

 

[Dis13]

Try http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/

Sign up for the airports in your area and you'll receive emails with the latest discounts. We were able to get RT from NJ to Orlando for $118 (it's usually around $240).

Good luck!

Donna

 

[castleri]

I fly Southwest....

So if the airfares are released already.....I will book them....

I know they will go down.....but I'll get a credit for
my next trip
Kerri

This is our strategy also - I booked originally at $200 RT and am now down to $150. Will use those extra credits in the spring.

 

[eporter66]

We have a young daughter, so we like to fly direct if we can. We dont live near a major city, so direct flights can be tough, so we book early. Because of Southwest, we have gotten good rates, and excellent flight arrivals/departures. We live in upstate NY, and when we leave we usually get a 7:30 am flight, and we are in Orlando by 10 - 10:30 or so (give or take). This works out best for us, no layovers.

I am willing to pay a little more to know that we fly direct to Orlando. This is best for our situation.

For the others - how do you apply for the credit if the rates are lower than when you purchased your tickets?

E

 

[Teyedoubleguhrrrr]

Try http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/

Sign up for the airports in your area and you'll receive emails with the latest discounts. We were able to get RT from NJ to Orlando for $118 (it's usually around $240).

Good luck!

Donna

I'll echo Donna's suggestion - airfarewatchdog is GREAT! There is also another program out there called TripStalker. It constantly checks and will email you when the price gets to a price you have set for the days you want to travel. You have to download a small piece of software - but its easy to use. www.tripstalker.com

 

[Inkmahm]

I book the villa and then the flights very soon after, so that's at 11 months.

We fly Midwest and the prices generally just increase after the initial release, not decrease. I paid $202 ea for our flights for DH and me next March when I booked them in April or early May this year. Then I had to pay $314 ea when we added 3 more family members to the trip in mid-July.

 

[CKDKMK]

I have notice watching DFW that prices will be slightly high then low and then really high. But the best prices are usually in between the release date and before the 2 month departing date. I can only state for DFW, this may not be true for other areas. I got nonstop RT flights for $189 pp. for upcoming trip.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We start watching fares from MSP about 4-5 months out, and usually buy about 3 months out if the fares meet our requirements. Sometimes we guess wrong, and the go down more, but usually we can get something at about $250 or less a ticket.

 

[maraki527]

I usually book as soon as i book my hotel. I usually fly southwest and use the credit for my next trip. Right now I have $76 in credit

 

[mcqueengroupie]

For our upcoming trip in Nov./Dec. we booked SSR first. It is getting hard to get your ressie at certain times of the year, so we booked Early!!! Then, we decided to add a few days thanks to the AP discount, so we added 3 days at CBR. Next, we've been waiting for cheap airfare, and waiting, and waiting, and nothing. We like to fly out of Atlantic City, NJ because flying out of Newark is a nightmare. Last June we got awesome airfare the 4 of us for $400., but nothing so far for our next trip. Until last night, we were able to fly to Tampa (not my first choice, but beggers can't be choosers) for $363. We were going to rent a car, so we figured grab the super cheap airfare while we could. Of course we had to call Guest Services and back up all our dates up by one day, but in the end, we have awesome airfare, two nights at CBR at AP discount, and then 11/30-12/8 at SSR. Now, I'm excited, it will be our first trip at the holidays!!!

 

[todd222222]

Well for our trip in late Jan I'm look at $350+ per ticket (need 4) right now. I know this is very high as I've gone in the past for around $200 each.

I'll just sit tight for a couple of months.

It's nice now that you can see seating charts online as it gives you an idea how many seats are full. Based on this you can get an idea if the flight is more expensive because of demand or just time frame.

Thanks All!

 

[vwlvette]

We book our villas at 11 month then soon after book the Air from Atlantic City, The fare isn't as important to me as getting a direct flight and good flying times. The times are most important to us. This year we book Comair(Delta) from ACY to MCO for about 238 per tix, There are 13 of us going, we are taking up about 25% of the plane! Within a month that flight was booked.

Nov 8th seems to be taking forever to get here!!!

 

[todd222222]

I'll echo Donna's suggestion - airfarewatchdog is GREAT! There is also another program out there called TripStalker. It constantly checks and will email you when the price gets to a price you have set for the days you want to travel. You have to download a small piece of software - but its easy to use. www.tripstalker.com

Thanks for the idea. I've signed up for both! I'm a fare stalker now!

 

[Hollymom1229]

Once I have the resort booked, I immediately begin stalking Southwest's website, and checking my e-mails. The day they release the rates for our trip I buy the tickets. Then I watch for the prices to go down and start hoarding up my credit. I've currently got $90 in credit which will come in real handy for my birthday trip in January.

 

[donaldsgal]

Once I have the resort booked, I immediately begin stalking Southwest's website, and checking my e-mails. The day they release the rates for our trip I buy the tickets. Then I watch for the prices to go down and start hoarding up my credit. I've currently got $90 in credit which will come in real handy for my birthday trip in January.

Someone else asked but no one saw/answered. How does this work? How do you book and then rest assured that you'll get a credit when/if the price goes down? I assume this is specific to Southwest, but could you provide some of the details?

Thanks!

 

[Teyedoubleguhrrrr]

Thanks for the idea. I've signed up for both! I'm a fare stalker now!

So glad you have!

As an FYI to all - Southwest is opening its schedule through March 7 on Monday the 27th of August. I would expect that the other airlines would move to match the prices fairly soon after.

 

[JimMIA]

There are a lot of different ways to book airfare. Like some of the other posters, I usually have a good idea of what a "good" fare is, and when I see that number with convenient flights, I snap it up.

Over the years, I've learned that the flight schedules can be as important as the fares. For example, I always try to get early morning flights so that I'm there before the entire air transportation system goes in the toilet in the late afternoon. I've had a number of situations where that early flight made the difference between getting there and not getting there.

I fly almost exclusively for business, so I only fly major airlines -- mostly American. The majors often change their fares at midnight Monday night/Tuesday morning, so if you check on Tuesday morning, you'll usually have not only good fares but also better availability. Travel experts will tell you NEVER to look for fares on weekends because they often go up on Friday and come back down on Tuesday.

When I check the travel sites for fares, I usually find I get the same fare but better flights on the airline's own website. And, of course, frequent flyer status is huge...especially when things go wrong.

I haven't used any of the fare-finder sites, but I know a lot of people do well with them, as well as with Southwest "dings."