When is the best time to purchase airfare?

[New_Disney_Lifer]

Hey Everyone!

Semi newbie here...

We just booked our trip for the beginning of May 2-9th of 2009 with the 4/3 deal.

I'm looking at airfare for me, Dh, and our 3 kids and it seems to be higher than I anticipated this far out. We are traveling from Boston or Providence to Orlando.

Am I doing something wrong? Does anyone know any tricks or ways to get better deals? Is there a special time period that you should book your flight?

I have heard that you should wait until just before to book your flight, but then don't you chance not getting a flight?

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Bob P]

Hi,

Waiting for airfare is like playing the stock market! Sometimes you look really smart by waiting, and sometimes, well...not so smart. Sometimes the price will go up, and sometimes it will go down.

Are you a gambler? My opinion is: if you are comfortable with the price now you should book it.

 

[TheWog]

I just purchased my return airfare for our return date on JetBlue when the May dates opened up. We are returning to Logan on May 2. The fares went from $189 pp to $239 pp while waiting to use gift cards I received. I was able to get the last 2 $189 pp fares and then one $239 pp fare. The fares for our return flight are now up to $259 pp. I don’t anticipate them dropping. Flight down in April fluctuated a bit. We got $104 pp and bounced up and down and is now sitting steadily at $139 pp. I say if you are considering JB to book right away. They will give you credit if fares drop to use for future flights. SW seems to be pretty expensive right now. I looked at them out of Manchester and they were much pricier than JB. Good luck.

 

[PADisFam2]

I have relatives who say they allways fly Southwest out of Providence to Orlando. They say they wait for a price of around $79 one way. But as a PP said it's a gamble, you may or may not get a good price if you wait.

I don't live in New England any more but we do fly similar distances to get to Orlando. We have a choice of 4 airports. Erie, PA, Pitt. PA, Cleveland OH and Buffalo, NY. Our last two trips (8/07 and 10/08) we paid right around $850 total for 5 people. I just booked two weeks ago for our next trip in 8/09 and we paid $810 for all five of us.

Hope this helps, good luck

 

[lisadr]

I am not sure about what weeks/months but I can tell you check flights prices on Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays. I find that they drop on those days and usually between 9am- 4pm. Don't know why, but I prices NY-Orlando for a few weeks and almost every time I found the best prices ($59) on those days between those times. > I jumped on them ASAP and noticed they went up later that same day or the very next day.

Oh that was JetBlue and Airtran.

 

[Jenfrog79]

I am not sure about what weeks/months but I can tell you check flights prices on Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays. I find that they drop on those days and usually between 9am- 4pm. Don't know why, but I prices NY-Orlando for a few weeks and almost every time I found the best prices ($59) on those days between those times. > I jumped on them ASAP and noticed they went up later that same day or the very next day.

Oh that was JetBlue and Airtran.

do you mean its best to book the flight on a monday, tuesday or wednesday? I'll be looking to fly out of hartford or manchester near the end of april and i'm worried about the high airfare costs too...ugh!

 

[lisadr]

I am not sure about what weeks/months but I can tell you check flights prices on Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays. I find that they drop on those days and usually between 9am- 4pm. Don't know why, but I priced NY-Orlando for a few weeks and almost every time I found the best prices ($59) on those days between those times. > I jumped on them ASAP and noticed they went up later that same day or the very next day.

Oh that was JetBlue and Airtran.

 

[New_Disney_Lifer]

Thanks Everyone for your advice!

I usually travel on Southwest from Providence to Orlando and have been able to get $89 each way. I think I just may have missed the dates by a bit this time, all the fares are at least $119 each way now. I guess we would of had to be planning this trip when the flights were first posted...(bummer)

I was hoping to pay $850-900 for the 5 of us. I'm just not sure that is going to happen... Although, I am still going to check into JetBlue and Airtran. I think I will check into Manchester and Hartford too.

Thanks Again! Any other tips out there?

 

[TheWog]

Has Spirit started flying out of Worcester yet? I think I saw a piece on the news about Worcester starting up a Florida route with Spirit I think.