When do you book your flights?

[Pamela M]

I'm wondering when everyone books their flights? 3months in advance? earlier? When do you find the best deals?

 

[Kaufeegurl]

We typically fly Southwest as they have a large presence at our local airport. I book the day the booking window for our dates opens (if possible) as sometimes if a flight time/date is popular you never see the opening 'Wanna Get Away' fare again. That said I keep an eye on our flights (we have several booked this year) and if the price/points go down, Southwest allows you to modify your flight as many times as you wish to take advantage of the lower fare. I will say that this year, our Disney flight only skyrocketed from the initial price, our other flights (8 of them) have gone down - sometimes twice - and I have re-booked accordingly. Gotta love Southwest for that feature alone!

 

[DisLiss]

We've always booked as soon as possible. I know we may miss out on deals that come along doing things this way, but for me it's the logical first step and a stress relief to know transportation is set. i figure I can't have a vacation if I can't get there, so I like to book transportation as early as I can. Then I can focus on the fun stuff.

 

[kitkat4622]

I always fly Jetblue and book the day they are released and have never regretted it. the price always went up after that

 

[1911]

I book mine as soon as possible.this year it was almost 8 months out.the price for our flight has only gone up since which has also been the case in years past.

 

[beccasmom]

It varies. We travel SWA 85% of the time. However it has been ages since they’ve included Philadelphia in their fare sales to Florida; it is usually Tampa or Fort Lauderdale.

Yesterday I ran a quick check on SWA for our August trip. The only non-stop to Orlando on our date is 5:20 a.m.! (We don’t have as many non-stops here either.). I know they sometimes add flights, but I frankly didn’t want to chance it. Since the trip is chiefly in celebration of my mom’s 90th birthday, I decided to move the trip up a day and got the time and fare I was comfortable with. I knew I’d be able to book an extra night at the CR if necessary (we’re staying at BLT on DVC points). We went from a Sunday to a Saturday departure and our return day stayed the same. In this case flight time (and non-stop availability) was more important to me than the fare.

Flights on American were pricier, but offered more flexible times. However they are non-refundable and luggage is extra. I’m happy with our flights and extra time at WDW is always a good thing!

 

[BabiesDaddy]

We fly Southwest, and always book the day the window opens for our flights.

 

[carousallie]

We book our resort first, then once everyone is approved to take time off from work we book flights. That, or we find a flight we're looking at and watch to see when the price goes down then grab it when it's cheapest.

 

[Minsc]

I usually book ours as soon as the booking window is open, too. We always fly SWA, and I pay with points and/or companion pass.

 

[EACarlson]

Once my vacation was approved at work I started looking, as soon as I had enough AMEX points I booked for my family of 4 on Delta. Since then my flights have been changed and layovers shortened to the point I called Delta, they rebooked me on non-stops at better times for no additional cost.

 

[1911]

Since then my flights have been changed and layovers shortened to the point I called Delta, they rebooked me on non-stops at better times for no additional cost.

same thing happened to me last year.I was originally booked with frontier who canceled our flight 3 months before our departure,booked with delta and then delta changed our flights to the point our layover flights were leaving 5 minutes after arriving.I called delta and was able to get nonstop flights at better times for no charge. stuff like this is the one downside to booking so far out.

 

[mkla2015]

I usually try to book as soon as possible especially if we are flying on southwest- those prices seem to just keep rising after release. I have had success getting cheaper flights on JetBlue though by waiting until about 2 months out.

 

[mamamelody2]

I booked 1/31 when booking opened for our dates through Southwest. We are flying out 8/29. We used points. I check every day or 2 to see if fares have gone down, but not so far.

When the flights were released about 7 AM, our outbound flight was actually $319 which is ridiculous. I checked again around 10 AM just in case, and it was down to $155 so I booked it. It's now $209. LOVE how you can re-book and get a refund of the points difference if price goes down. Last year, I was able to that twice in each leg of our trip.

 

[SinCityMMAFan]

I always fly w/ Southwest because they have non-stop from Las Vegas to Orlando. The only other airlines that do that are the ones that I will never fly like Spirit/Frontier/Sun Country. Anyways I've found it's best to book the sooner the better with Southwest. The prices usually fluctuate a little after release date but as closer it gets to travel time the prices continue to rise. I know what I've paid using dollars and/or points for my last 3 trips so I use that as a good rule of thumb when booking. I've never paid over $400 round trip or 25,000 points.

 

[siren0119]

The moment that flights hit a price I'm willing to pay The last few years that has been right around 6-7 months before the trip. With SW, it tends to be right when fares are first released. On Delta, it can vary based on whether the plane is selling out or not.

 

[skippytx]

We book as soon as possible if the price is in our range. I try not to stress out about the cost of airfare, but I do have a $300 per person target price. If the flight is under 300 a person we go ahead and book it. Yes it might be less expensive at a later date, but I rather just make sure we have the tickets.

It also depends where I fly out of. We can easily fly out of SAT or Austin, so we've been taking JetBlue out of Austin over SWA the last couple of trips. Last trip we got tickets for 88 each way.

 

[Pamela M]

thanks everyone. I'm looking to fly United as I have a $250 credit and they fly non-stop. I checked southwest and everything has atleast 1 stop for me. I'll keep watching and we'll look into getting our flights 6-7 months out.

 

[ScoutsMom21]

I'll admit it. I'm a pain in the butt about my preference to travel relatively comfortably. About 3-6 months out, I'll start by comparing direct flights (only) on Delta and JetBlue for pricing based on varying dates of travel. I'll also be looking for which flights have the best seats available (nothing worse than an awful seat at the back of the plane - especially if like me it makes you motion sick). At this point I know which airline I want (almost always Delta) and which flights I like best, and my travel dates have started to narrow down. Next up is to take a peek at historical crowd trends by using Touring Plans or Undercover Tourist. That helps me to refine my preferred travel dates even more. At this point, I'm on the phone with a Disney cast member comparing my first and second preferences for resort. By the end of that conversation, I'll have our accommodations and park package booked. Then finally, I'm back on the airline site booking the flights and seat preferences I've already saved as a draft itinerary on my account. The last step is the absolute hardest, though. WAITING for vacation. There's nothing worse.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I'm wondering when everyone books their flights? 3months in advance? earlier? When do you find the best deals?

As early as possible. I start looking @ flights at least 11 months out. Usually at the time the prices are pretty high. But I check everyday, at different times. Once I find a price that I like, I buy. In my experience, never did I find airfare cheaper @ 3 months out cheaper than further out. Seating is always limited/scarce and price reflects what’s left.

 

[BillyFeat]

I fly Southwest and look to book around the 60 day mark.