When do you buy airline tickets?

[kellia]

I admit I am a BIG over-planner, dh would call me something else. We are going to Disney next Jan/Feb, and it is driving me crazy that I can't have everything set in stone already! LOL! When do you start looking for airline tickets and get the best deals? We know about when we want to go, but airline prices will probably set the exact day. Should you get the tickets as soon as they are available? When do they have discounts? We'll need 5 seats, so I know I can't wait too long. We will probably fly Air Tran or US Air.

TIA!

 

[Sabrina90744]

I admit I am a BIG over-planner, dh would call me something else. We are going to Disney next Jan/Feb, and it is driving me crazy that I can't have everything set in stone already! LOL! When do you start looking for airline tickets and get the best deals? We know about when we want to go, but airline prices will probably set the exact day. Should you get the tickets as soon as they are available? When do they have discounts? We'll need 5 seats, so I know I can't wait too long. We will probably fly Air Tran or US Air.

TIA!

Ive traveled Jan/Feb the last four years and have watched fares religiously - what Ive noticed, fares drop the week after labor day weekend and drop again the week after new years

 

[KimFIGFern]

When I was looking to buy our tickets to Disney this past December (1-9) I think I booked in August. After reading some sites that I googled about the best "day" to buy tickets .... I found that rates go down on a Tuesday or Wednesday of the week .... but go back up again towards the end of the week. I noticed this for quite a few weeks before I booked our tickets (one way for 68.00 ... Pittsburgh to Orlando ).

Good luck and watch the airlines mid week.

 

[aimlyles]

Don't be like me and wait, we are going 2/13 - 2/21 and for 3 tickets it's costing us $1900 on SW. We are going during a peak time, it's February vacation for our state (MA) and I believe some other states. We also didn't plan on taking the trip until October, I've been watching the rates since Oct and at times they were a little lower but not much.

Wanted to add that my parents are going 2/17 - 2/24 and with US Airways are paying about $500 for the two tickets, flying on a Tues or Wed is cheaper than the other days of the week.

 

[KELLY]

We go in spetember/Ocotober every year. So we usually do a bounceback offer before we leave(pay depoist). By the time we come home the holidays are right around the corner so then my focus is on that. I'm looking now to book my flights I'm waiting on airtran. So about 8 months out.

 

[blanq]

I admit I am a BIG over-planner, dh would call me something else. We are going to Disney next Jan/Feb, and it is driving me crazy that I can't have everything set in stone already! LOL! When do you start looking for airline tickets and get the best deals? We know about when we want to go, but airline prices will probably set the exact day. Should you get the tickets as soon as they are available? When do they have discounts? We'll need 5 seats, so I know I can't wait too long. We will probably fly Air Tran or US Air.

TIA!

I fly AirTran all the time. They will not release their schedules until about six months in advance. I would highly suggest you sign up to receive their emails for their web specials. They offer specials frequently, but you are more likely to get a good price 3-4 months before you want to fly. I have noticed (just this past year), that AirTran offered specials further out than they had been doing in the past. AirTran has been quite predictable regarding their pricing structure, at least for the places I tend to fly and from my market, and if you watch their fares you will get a sense of what you will likely pay once web specials are offered for the time you want to fly. For example, I know that the absolute best fare I will ever get from MSP to MCO is $79 + fees per leg.

 

[kristinw3girls]

I'm also an over-planner, but I really want to pay all expenses as early as possible! I watched the fares for several weeks and knew I'd be paying about $130 each for usair philidelphia to orlando. Fares do drop tuesday nights into wednesday. we did buy our tickets very early for our Dec 08 trip. I'm talking February. This REALLY paid off for us last trip. We had our tickets before the big gas increases, so they couldn't charge us for the fuel surcharge. We also got in before the bag fee too. I think we saved about $500 between the 5 of us. Another plus to buying early is the best pick of flight times too. Be aware the airline did change out flight times, as the trip got closer, but it was only 10 minutes or so. If you do purchase early, just keep an eye on your seat assignments. USair changed the plane on us and randomly picked new seats for our family. Luckily I caught it early enough to have it adjusted.

 

[Heidijs]

I always book the same time I book the trip if I can. We fly Northwest. AirTrans was the same price but we have skymile cards and Northwest doesn't seem to change their flight times like I keep reading Airtrans does...although AT flys out of the smaller terminal here in MSP which would be very convenient but we stick to NWA if we can...

 

[pickleo]

We are heading to DW in Jan. 2011 and I too want to have everything planned and accounted for. Finding out the price of flying lets me determine if we are driving or flying from MD. I want to make a decision now, but looks like I am waiting.