when is the best time to book flights

[disneylovinfamily]

When do you think its the best time to book flights? Early, close to trip or somewhere in between? DH and are contemplating a weekend anniversary trip and it is dependent on getting cheap fights. Our trip would be in October and right now it is abou$100 each way for each is teh best I can find. Our september flights are only $50 each way. I need to get close to that if we are going to go. Suggestiosn, do you think it is possible?

 

[Iceman10]

If you use Southwest you can change without a fee.

For example, This Sunday DW & kids head to Orladno for Disney Golf Camp. I bought their airfare a few months back for about $140 ea. Several weeks later I looked again and now the price was $99 ea so I rebooked and got a credit of $120. Guess what they went down again a couple of weeks ago and I saved another $50.

So now I have a credit with Southwest for about $170. The prices today have gone back up to $140 and that savings just paid for the airfare for another trip I have to take!

 

[uva185]

When do you think its the best time to book flights? Early, close to trip or somewhere in between? DH and are contemplating a weekend anniversary trip and it is dependent on getting cheap fights. Our trip would be in October and right now it is abou$100 each way for each is teh best I can find. Our september flights are only $50 each way. I need to get close to that if we are going to go. Suggestiosn, do you think it is possible?

Well first off where are you traveling from?

In my experience airlines offer their best fares 2-4 months prior to date of departure. October is a good month to travel and you should be able to get a good price.

Contrary to (popular?) belief there is no "best day" to purchase your airfare but their are certain days which may be cheaper to fly on. Some of the "lowest" fares are only valid for travel on certain days of the week (like Tuesday and Wednesday). However since you are looking at a weekend trip that really doesn't do any good. This is not always the case and often the "lowest" fares are valid for travel any day of the week.

Post your departure city and dates and I'll see what I can look up in terms of fare availability.

 

[disneylovinfamily]

We would be flying out of BWI october 16 (friday) and coming home the 19th (monday) Ideally, I would love an early morning flight on friday and a later in the day on monday to maximize our time down there. THANKS for your HELP!

 

[uva185]

We would be flying out of BWI october 16 (friday) and coming home the 19th (monday) Ideally, I would love an early morning flight on friday and a later in the day on monday to maximize our time down there. THANKS for your HELP!

The three lowest fares from BWI-MCO right now are..

$98 r/t + tax on Northwest
101 r/t +tax on Delta
118 r/t + tax on US Airways

BWI usually has great fares so I am fairly certain you will be able to get a good price especially since you are not traveling on a holiday weekend.

There is only a 3 day advance purchase requirement on the current fares which is good, there is availability on the outbound flights but none on the return flight.

I am not sure you will be able to get a flight for $50 each way, but I am fairly certain you can get a flight for under $75 each way.

Keep checking both roundtrip prices as well as one way prices. It wouldn't hurt to fly one way on Delta and the other way on US.

The fare rules are a little tricky and state you can only travel on certain flights before July 30th and certain flights after July 30th.

FOR TRAVEL ON/BEFORE 30JUL09 THE FARE COMPONENT MUST BE 
ON ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING DL FLIGHTS 1 THROUGH 1334 DL
 FLIGHTS 1400 THROUGH 5899 DL FLIGHTS 5931 THROUGH 6949 DL FLIGHTS
 7550 THROUGH 8899 DL FLIGHTS 8940 THROUGH 9124 DL FLIGHTS 9285
 THROUGH 9949 DL FLIGHTS 9955 THROUGH 9999 IN COMBINATION WITH
 ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING ANY DL FLIGHT. FOR TRAVEL ON/BEFORE
 30JUL09 THE FARE COMPONENT MUST BE ON ONE OR MORE OF THE
 FOLLOWING DL FLIGHTS 1 THROUGH 1334 DL FLIGHTS 1400 THROUGH 5899
 DL FLIGHTS 5931 THROUGH 6949 DL FLIGHTS 7550 THROUGH 8899 DL 
 FLIGHTS 8940 THROUGH 9124 DL FLIGHTS 9285 THROUGH 9949 DL FLIGHTS
 9955 THROUGH 9999. NOTE - TEXT BELOW NOT VALIDATED FOR
 AUTOPRICING. 1. NO DELTA SHUTTLE. 2. NO CO FOR TRAVEL ON/AFTER
 31JUL09 THE FARE COMPONENT MUST BE ON ONE OR MORE OF THE
 FOLLOWING DL FLIGHTS 1 THROUGH 1334 DL FLIGHTS 1400 THROUGH 5899
 DL FLIGHTS 5931 THROUGH 8899 DL FLIGHTS 8940 THROUGH 9949 DL
 FLIGHTS 9955 THROUGH 9999 IN COMBINATION WITH ONE OR MORE OF THE
 FOLLOWING ANY DL FLIGHT. FOR TRAVEL ON/AFTER 31JUL09 THE FARE
 COMPONENT MUST BE ON ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING DL FLIGHTS 1
 THROUGH 1334 DL FLIGHTS 1400 THROUGH 5899 DL FLIGHTS 5931 THROUGH
 8899 DL FLIGHTS 8940 THROUGH 9949 DL FLIGHTS 9955 THROUGH 9999.
 NOTE - TEXT BELOW NOT VALIDATED FOR AUTOPRICING. 1. NO DELTA
 SHUTTLE. 2. NO CO

 

[Missytara]

I am also flying out of BWI to MCO; I got a 7:00 am flight going down, non-stop and a 6:15 pm flight, non-stop, coming back. I am leaving the Saturday of T-giving weekend.

Here is what I found for Airtran - it seems like if you go online from mid-day Friday to mid-morning on Monday, the fare seems to be the highest. I found it at $390.00 at one point.

It seemed to go down Tuesday through Thursday - I was checking at lunchtime and at the end of my workday - it was fluctuating between $248.00 and 192.00. I took a chance last Thursday and got online when I got to work at 6:15 am and it was down to $172.00, so I took it. I just don't see how it could go any lower that particular weekend - and the seats were starting to fill up for the flight I wanted. For convenience and peace of mind, I booked it then.

 

[Missytara]

I just checked Airtran and they have the same flights I am taking shown above for $77.00 each way. If you go through a site like kayak.com, you can save the $12.00 seating fee.

 

[disneylovinfamily]

Thanks so much! I will keep checking! I signed up for Ding and will check every day, to see if I get lucky! This would totally be a perk triop but since they are offering the military ticket and military room discount, I am hoping we can get lucky with a flight and make it happen!

 

[uva185]

Thanks so much! I will keep checking! I signed up for Ding and will check every day, to see if I get lucky! This would totally be a perk triop but since they are offering the military ticket and military room discount, I am hoping we can get lucky with a flight and make it happen!

Also sign up at www.yapta.com They will send you an alert if a particular flight drops below a certain price. This would be good for you since you only want to travel at certain times of the day. (You can register multiple flights to cover yourself)

Best of luck, FYI, there are different levels of fares Delta (as all airlines do). Delta fares are labeled (in order of least expensive to most expensive) T, U, L, K, Q, H, M, B, Y. Right now most of the fares available are at the H and Q level. I see no reason why Delta will not add fares at the T and U level at a later date. I have gotten T fares the week of departure.

 

[annnewjerz]

Thank goodness I saw this thread before posting my own! DH and I are making a last-minute trip to WDW that same weekend since my birthday is October 17th. We would ideally like to fly out of Philly, but I looked at Southwest out of BWI and I was able to get flights for $64 each way ($160 total with taxes/fees). I'm willing to pay a little more like $79 each way if I can get a flight out of PHL, so I'm checking Southwest's site everyday. For now, I have flights that I am happy with and a price that was too good to pass up---but I will be even happier if I can switch to PHL.

I would recommend going on Southwest.com multiple times a day. I have been checking moring, afternoon, evening and right before I go to sleep and while usually the prices don't vary---I have checked and seen flights from PHL that were $129 as low as $99 and then back up to $109 a few hours later.

Having a credit for the next year with Southwest wouldn't do me any good, so I didn't want to book out of PHL for $220 per person and get a $70 credit if/when prices dropped---so if you are in the same boat, I would just recommend sitting tight and waiting it out, you are bound to find something cheaper than what you're seeing right now. $59 might be a stretch, but if you find something in the 60's or 70's I'd jump on it!

The current summer sale they have going ends on June 18th, so after this week they may have a new sale going that includes Orlando as the destination from PHL and BWI (since right now, Orlando is not included in their fare sale).

Any chance you'll be going to MNSSHP on 10/18?? If so---see ya there!!

 

[Missytara]

Ann - way to go!

I think you will always find fares from BWI always slightly cheaper than PHL for some reason. I even helped one of my workmates book a flight a few years ago to Dallas, TX and the airfares were consistently $100.00 cheaper from BWI.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[disneylovinfamily]

thanks for the tip, I just signed up there as well!