When should I book flight for this Sept?

[frannn]

The current costs I am seeing on Sept airfare for our dates (9/8 Fri-9/18 Mon) start at 186. per person (Delta). Last year we paid 135. pp on Song for Oct, and would be thrilled to pay the same amount. We'd prefer to fly Jetblue, but their prices seemed very high last year. If the flights for Jetblue come out at 69 each way, I'd be satisfied. I just think they may be 89-119 when they release them, until they run a sale. Should I book as soon as the fares are released, or do you think the prices will go down in a few months? What do you think is a reasonable airfare for JFK (NY)- MCO for Sept?

 

[JWP]

I don't know if Allegiant flies out of JFK, but if it does you may want to check that out. We got $79 each way on Allegiant from Worcester MA for Sept. This was much better than any other rate we could get from Boston or Providence.

 

[Jen D]

A question we always live with. I used to always wait for fare sales and book flights about 2-3 months before, and I've gotten some amazing rates. This last trip I got antsy, Delta was the lowest at $158 (plus tax) each way but I'd always paid less. But I was worried about fuel prices, discounts, etc.

Briefly after Katrina the prices shot up to like $278 way! Then dropped to $178 Thinking I dodged a bullet I grabbed the $178, about 4-5 months out.

Of course, they dropped to $158 within a couple weeks. Eventually they did go way up again.

Even worse, later in the year Jet Blue ran an amazing sale, like $90 round trip, that drove everyone's price down.

You can drive yourself nuts trying to second guess. There is definitely a gambling aspect to trying to get the lowest fare. Sometimes your best bet is just to find a "reasonable" fare and grab that.

But if you feel like gambling-- the New York-Orlando market is very competitive and September is a great time for air sales. So I would guess there will be a good sale at some point. But you may have to wait until July to see it!