When do you book the air?

[kimsue68]

Our cruise in May 06, when should we book the air? Right now it is around $300-440 round trip per person. That seems a little steep to me, anyone have any advice? TIA

 

[Jillpie]

We are going on the Magic in June 06' and have already booked our air. I booked it at the 330 day mark, and got the lowest fare out there. Are you going with Song? Their one way is 79.00, that is about the lowest they go from Boston at least.

 

[kimsue68]

We are flying out of Philadelphia.

 

[Michelle2]

I had to post because I just bought our remaining 2 tickets today. From the west coast, we always pay a pretty penny, but today when i called it was the cheapest I have seen our flights. Even the agent said they would not really get any cheaper, so I saved us about 350 bucks (just on 2 tickets) by waiting until after the summer. Late August always goes down due to the slower fall travel season!

 

[barkley]

i start looking about 6 months prior (depending on the airline some only publish rates out 4 months). i felt very lucky to get $99.00 each way from california for this november.

 

[Admiral Boom]

Booked a few weeks ago for our 07/06 cruise. One less thing to worry about.

 

[BABYJOSIE98]

I know we were cutting it close,but I was not going to pay $250-$300 for a flight! I knew if I waited that rates would come down.

Does SouthWest fly out of any airports around you???

We got $59 one way to Orlando!! $136 round trip!!! I was just patient and it paid off!

So I would hold out for a bit...Good luck!

 

[auntie k]

I got an "alert" from Travelocity that indicated the flights I had been searching for were "on sale"...I wish I had waited until closer to time to book-the rate went from $311 to $169 - then later went to $149.

Lesson learned - I will start SEARCHING early - and BOOK when it becomes a bargain!

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

We cruise January 21, 2006 and will be going down a day early. I started checking fares right after booking and check daily. Its just part of my daily routine anymore. As of right now, any sales go through mid-December so I am holding out for the next group of sales which should be our date.

 

[cockermom]

We booked our 1/14 cruise back in October and got our airline tickets shortly after that. We look for a good deal (close to what we've budgeted) but with a specific airline so we can use our airline points for upgrades.

We're adding visits to DH's family both before and after the cruise, so we needed a specific airport and specific days. But I always feel more comfortable having all the "i"s dotted and "t"s crossed well in advance, anyway. (I would have made the final cruise payment some time ago 'cept DH wanted to get all the interest possible from the bank. I think I can hold off on the payment till 9/1.)

 

[tvguy]

I always book the flights and cruise at the same time. May not be the smartest thing financially, but I always get my flights.

With fuel prices, the prices some of you were mentioning are awesome, not sure how long those will last.

The more time you are willing to spend searching for bargain air fares, the more likely you are going to find them.

Never had much luck booking bargain air fares with Southwest, no bargain seats available on the days I need to travel. Last time I booked them (Sacramento to Houston), I found out later, they were actually $100 per person more expensive than American West.

 

[carolina_yankee]

I'd wait to buy airfare from PHL to MCO for a few months. Southwest won't release their rates for April/May 2006 for awhile and AirTran is only booking through April 2006. Both airlines will force the others to lower their fares when they publish their rates. I suspect you'll get something in the $120 to $170 range per person round-trip, maybe even better.

For what it's worthy, AirTran has been great for us from Philly since they fly non-stop to Orlando. Their rates have always been great, too.

Dirk

 

[kimsue68]

Thanks for all the responses!! It really helped alot, I was unsure whether or not to hold off on the air and now I feel better about waiting!! Thanks again!!

 

[Laurabearz]

I book SWA when they open op the flights. For us, from Chicago, they are the cheapest.

Good luck!

 

[pyramid2000]

Thank you for mentioning SouthWest!! I didn't realize they fly from Phila. as they don't show up on expedia, etc. My DH wants to fly out of Atlantic City, but they cost twice as much! Air Tran had good prices, but return flights were only good at 7AM (definately not doable!!)

 

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