Because there seems to be no clear picture of where air fares are going, my standard plan is to have a rough idea of what I want to pay. Then I keep checking. As long as there are seats on flights I am interested in, and the prices are not what I want, I keep looking. But if the prices come close to what I want,then I buy. For my flights next week, I looked every day for weeks. Finally there was an unannouced sale on tickets and I bought them quickly. 2 days later the prices went right back up.