When is it 'too late' to get plane tickets?

[tchrrx]

We would like to fly out early morning and return home on an evening flight. In order to get the flight times I want, when should I book? I'm thinking of waiting until about a month to a month and a half out. Is that too late? I keep hoping prices will go down by then, but I don't want to miss out on the times I want.

Also, I know that they sometimes overbook flights. If I don't buy my tickets until only a month out, will that put my family as the ones who are unable to take that flight if there's no room or is that based on what time you check in at the airport?

 

[CarolA]

A lot depends. Are you going over a holiday weekend or other "busy" time? If so things may only go up. I booked this week for a trip mid March. Wasn't as cheap as I have found in the past, but not bad....

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

Our experience has been to book as soon as we are able to. Previously when we've booked, there are 'preferred' flights to Orlando that have a better schedule than others and these are often booked more than a few months prior to departure date. If you wait until the last minute, and if you are able to book a seat on these flights, odds are you won't get seats together with your entire party. Usually any of the really good seat sales (for us anyway) were on crappy flights with at least 2 stop overs.

We should also mention that we've had our flights booked since mid-January for our October 2007 trip.

 

[canwegosoon]

I personally believe it is 14 days out (on most carriers) after that there is no chance of discounted flights. I have found the following to be the best times to get a lowest fare
1)As far out as possible 330 day if possible
2)When discount carriers open their windows(Jet Blue/ SWA) it seems that the legacy carriers offer some type of sale around then
3)If anyone carrier is at risk of bankrupsy, then the closer you get, the lower the price is.
4)On Holidays like Christmas and July 4th...I have seen good fares
5)Overnight at odd hours sometimes a low fare gets released.

Best way to get a cheap flight at a late date
1) Be flexible as possible
2)consider all airports within a driveable raidus(for me that is 100 miles)
use a search engine like www.sidestep.com or www.itasoftware.com to find the airfare and book it directly with the carrier. (I do not use Hotwire, Orbitz, but I know they also have a fare watcher which can be useful for you too...they will email you with a discounted fare at your target dollar amount). I might use them for next trip.

 

[bavaria]

technically, it is only 'too late' 60 minutes before the flight. I have often bought tickets at the airport ticket counter, but I realize that this is not your question.

Really, you should ask 'what is an acceptable fare for this route' and once you find it, buy the ticket. Legacy carriers, charters and low cost carriers have different pricing structures so 'when is it too late' is too general a question.

I fly mainly United, and they actually do drop their fares considerable 24-48 hours before a flight on some routes. But I certainly wouldn't count on that, especially as airlines are becoming better at modifying routes and aircraft to ensure that the maximum number of seats are filled.

 

[tchrrx]

Ok....I'm flying from either OKC or TUL to MCO. We'll be flying out on Memorial Day & returning the following Monday. So....even though tickets are around $200-250 right now, I should probably go ahead and snatch them, right? I think I just get confused b/c I keep seeing others talking about $80 flights and I'm wondering (wishing!) if I should wait for those prices too.

 

[Disneyolic]

I'm wondering the same thing. We have booked early before when we thought the price was a good one. However, I don't like any of the prices out there, especially for the times we prefer. Do I want to be flexible? Not too much. I don't want an early flight home, case closed. I check airfare every day for our trip at the end of June and get more and more depressed. I do know that Jet Blue tends to offer deals a month or so out. I wonder, do I want to wait until then? It's all a game.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Ok....I'm flying from either OKC or TUL to MCO. We'll be flying out on Memorial Day & returning the following Monday. So....even though tickets are around $200-250 right now, I should probably go ahead and snatch them, right? I think I just get confused b/c I keep seeing others talking about $80 flights and I'm wondering (wishing!) if I should wait for those prices too.

Your $80 flights, roundtrip with taxes.... will generally run just over $200. Go ahead and book.

 

[cfknight]

I think I will wait till the end of feb... If the fares haven't gone down by then I will be booking with someone else. We don't have air tran out of louisville so any other cheap flight besides SW is out of the question. But I at would at least like to be booked with an air line 2 months ahead of our trip. That way we can give the info. to disney to allow enough time for DME tickets to be delivered, and if there were any mistakes with anything it would give enough time to take care of it.
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[simzac]

Sounds like time is just as important as price, so I would go ahead and purchase while the times you want are still available. JMO