When do you book flights?

[mort1331]

So heading back to DW march 2015. This past one we were one of the lucky ones that missed our flights due to the big snow storm. So my wife has told me never again out of Buffalo. I love flying Buffalo, but she says no.
Now I have to fly AC(help me ) or Westjet (ok), but when is the time to book these flights, I know there not cheap?
TIA

 

[maggieb9975]

So heading back to DW march 2015. This past one we were one of the lucky ones that missed our flights due to the big snow storm. So my wife has told me never again out of Buffalo. I love flying Buffalo, but she says no.
Now I have to fly AC(help me ) or Westjet (ok), but when is the time to book these flights, I know there not cheap?
TIA

I find the sooner you book flights now the cheaper they are. I just booked for May with westjet 2 adults T oronto nonstop to MCO was $924 ,including seat selection.

 

[maggieb9975]

Sorry duplicate post

 

[disneymath]

Start looking now ... Chances are flights will only go up!

March is prime time and the airlines in Canada know it.

We had a DCL cruise booked for March Break 2013 .... I started watching airfare to MCO in March 2012 ... Flight prices started off ridiculous and never came down. (We ended up not cruising since flights were going to cost more than the 7 night Fantasy cruise!)

Disclaimer ... We were looking to fly from our smallish municipal airport (connect in Toronto) and are a larger group, BUT we've flown that route at other times of the year for much less than those March prices!

 

[roberthodgson]

Flights are limited and during peek times it might be wise to secure your flight on the dates reauired. Yes you may save a bit if you wait but you may miss the needed dates if you do.

Some travel companies in the past offered rate change protection if up the price goes down you get the difference

Even if you don't save any thing and you are happy with the current prices then you have nothing to loose by booking now. I
One good thing will be if you pay now and pay Disney over the next 9 months your entire trip will be prepaid and you won't have to worry about the major expenses bill when you get back.

 

[keaster]

So heading back to DW march 2015. This past one we were one of the lucky ones that missed our flights due to the big snow storm. So my wife has told me never again out of Buffalo. I love flying Buffalo, but she says no.
Now I have to fly AC(help me ) or Westjet (ok), but when is the time to book these flights, I know there not cheap?
TIA

You don't necessarily have to book AC or WJ out of YYZ. We just booked our flights to Hawaii for March 2015 and the cheapest price and best times were with United

 

[Ted in Halifax]

United is a good point .... I fly them out of Halifax and they are always cheaper than AC or WJ.

 

[mort1331]

Thanks all, finally convinced my wife to try the drive. Told her last year when it took us 7 hours to get back from buffalo to Toronto the kids were great. She agreed, so taking the I75 route and giving it a go. Just going to cost me the cost of a tablet so the girls can have there own in the back seat. DW's only stipulation. I can live with that, still cheaper then flying.

 

[dis_guy]

You don't necessarily have to book AC or WJ out of YYZ. We just booked our flights to Hawaii for March 2015 and the cheapest price and best times were with United

United is a good point .... I fly them out of Halifax and they are always cheaper than AC or WJ.

I agree as well. The savings are usually quite a bit on UAL. Mind you, for our next trip we're considering the WJ nonstop. The newest 2015 fares are looking like they can be had for around 650 pp. from YEG. No connections, no late planes/crews, might be worth the slightly higher price.

 

[Toronto_Mouse]

This is contrary to what everyone else said, but I wouldn't book till about 2-3 months before you fly....

Last trip I paid $127 a person leaving from Buffalo NY to Orlando, Florida on United Airways

Here's an article backing what I said:

Huffingtonpost .com/2014/03/01/best-time-to-book-a-flight_n_4875266.html


There's also coupons you can print for parking at buffalo airport....a week and a half cost me $54 or something like that. With a family of 5, the savings are huge considering a flight from Toronto Pearson around the same time cost $450+ per person at the time via Air Canada

 

[Gigi22]

You can register the days you want to fly with http://hipmunk.com
once you select flights on their website, and they search a number of websites for you, hipmunk will send you emails to notify you of price changes. That way you can make the decision to purchase before your flights go up in price. Their flying chipmunk mascot is cute too!

 

[lizzyb]

I was wondering the same thing. I have heard booking as soon as flights are released you get the better price but I have never done that. Jetblue releases their flights until April 30 today and I will be checking it out for our upcoming cruise.

 

[disneymath]

There is no doubt that deals CAN be had closer to your flight dates (2-3 months out), BUT there is no guarantee that the flights you want or the number of seats you need will go on sale.

With popular flight routes / times and travel seasons, the prices will go up the fuller the plane gets (no matter what airline you are flying with) ... and the less likely sale fares will be released. So if your travel dates/times are not very flexible, you are better off booking in advance as soon as you come across a price and route that you can live with.

 

[greenclan67]

We are looking for flights in March as well. We always fly Buffalo, but we went at Xmas last year and got Flint Mi on the 23rd of Dec home on the 2nd of Jan, into Tampa for $816 total for all 4 of us roundtrip.
We usually pay typically anywhere to $100 to $150 from Buf to MCO, for March. We are in Virginia right now, and drove from Northern Ontario, about 16 hours. My husband has now decided if we could drive that far, he wants to drive to Orlando. Unless we find some good flight prices. So we are going with that. If the prices are good we will jump at some point. If not we are driving. Please let prices be good