When to book airfare for August trip?

[Miss_Nellie]

I'm not seeing airfare comparable to what I've paid in the past. Did I miss the good deals or have they not come out yet and I should just wait? Or should I just book the airport / airline / flight time I like at prices I really don't like and hope for a sale? And then hope I can get a credit for a future trip?

We're flying from Indiana, departing Aug 11 and returning Aug 18.

Thanks!!

 

[Disneyhappy]

I'm not sure where what state Birar Patch is in but SW and Airtran have $49 fares from Phila to MCO if that helps you. Keep watching for specials to various destinations and sign up for e-mails from airlines in your area. I purchased our August tickets about a month ago when SW ran their first $49 special.

 

[Darcy03231]

I booked mine for 8/10 - 8/24 in February when SW released their dates. I keep checking as it usually starts to go down about this time of year, but so far it seems to just keep going up!

 

[TAKitty]

I am waiting too! I have been checking since January and the prices are high. I am going to wait a couple of more weeks. I noticed that a lot of airlines are running specials until the end of June. I am hoping in a couple of weeks our August trip will be lower in price.

 

[Starr W.]

Just got an email from Airtran regarding a "fare sale". I think you had to purchase by sometime in April and was good for travel to early October.

 

[emfisher2000]

We are going Aug 12 - 18 and reserved Air Tran in February. They have web specials which cost me $82 each way. Once those are sold, they have higher priced flights. When I looked last week most of the $82 flights were taken and the next cost was $102. I was able to get direct flights to and from so early at the lowest cost, but they still had some Web special flights last week for August, granted, there were layovers. We are flying out of Baltimore so I am not sure if it is much different from your area. Good Luck....

 

[PolyHereWeCome]

I'm not seeing airfare comparable to what I've paid in the past. Did I miss the good deals or have they not come out yet and I should just wait? Or should I just book the airport / airline / flight time I like at prices I really don't like and hope for a sale? And then hope I can get a credit for a future trip?

We're flying from Indiana, departing Aug 11 and returning Aug 18.

Thanks!!

We're in a similar situation, flying August 12-21st, but we're out of Hartford, CT. If you have a number of airline or airport options, I'd be slightly more inclined to wait just a little longer to see if they next sale lowers the fares for you. Don't get fooled by all the folks posting $39-$69 one-way fares from SW, JetBlue, AirTran, etc., because those are location specific. Wish we had the competition that Philly has, but here in Hartford, we only have Delta and SW that fly direct non-stop to Orlando (we don't want to go out of Rhode Island, New York, or Mass., but if you have alternative airports that you are willing to consider, that definitely helps). I've checked everyday since SW opened our dates and the fares have never been lower for our dates than $117 one-way per person. Last year we paid just about that roundtrip in May!

We did book SW at the $117 (Delta's $ and times weren't as good), which was an internet-fare, and now that category isn't even showing up for our dates. During the next wave, if we are lucky enough for our flights to be reoffered at a lower fare, we'll rebook.

Seems like a luck of the dice these days, so the more options you have with dates, times, airports, airlines, and if there's a low-cost competitor like JetBlue or AirTran, it'll really help.