When to book flights?

[DisneyBabies]

Hi everyone! My family and I moved to the west coast last year and we are beginning to plan DD's birthday trip to Disney. We have never had to fly to get there before, so I'm curious to know what you all recommend as far as timing to book flights.

We will be flying into MCO the night before our vacation "starts" and staying at the airport Hyatt for the night before taking DME to the world the next morning.

I was looking up those hotel/flight combos and found that there was a non-stop flight to MCO which we would prefer since DD is 4. The trip is not until September, so should I go ahead and book the hotel and flights or wait until closer to the trip?

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

*mods, I wasn't sure exactly where to put this, so please move if necessary*

 

[Dis703]

Really this is the million dollar question and there is no perfect answer. Generally, I just say if you see a flight that you like at a price you are willing to accept book it. Some airlines tend to open their flights at the best rate you'll see and they mostly climb from there. Others airlines like discount airlines drop their prices much closer to the dates (under 2 months) but you take a chance of not finding the exact date or time you are looking for.

 

[NJ Goofy]

You didn't mention an airline as they all seem to have different policies now. We are flying SW out of PHL and I seemed to get the best rate in January for a May trip, so I booked about 5 months out. The flight now, one month later, is over a $100 more per ticket. At this point I doubt it's going to get cheaper. You might want to ask others on the Boards what they paid from your airport to give you an idea of a "good" price. Good luck !

 

[scard192]

we flew mid November from Providence. SW opened the schedule in early June, did not jump on the fare fast enough 2 weeks later fares were about the same and I did book. So 5 months out. fares dropped by $18pp a couple of weeks after I booked and we did refare. watched fares every week and never saw anything cheaper than we paid. I had heard 90days, 60 days out you find the best fares but did not find that to be the case.

 

[tinkerbella16]

You didn't mention an airline as they all seem to have different policies now. We are flying SW out of PHL and I seemed to get the best rate in January for a May trip, so I booked about 5 months out. The flight now, one month later, is over a $100 more per ticket. At this point I doubt it's going to get cheaper. You might want to ask others on the Boards what they paid from your airport to give you an idea of a "good" price. Good luck !

Did you book when the day they released flights? We are booking SW next week for our Sept trip out of Philly, and the prices are scary right now for August. We like to book as soon as they are available and next Thursday they release the next round. Worrying that they're going to be outrageous from what I am seeing now.

 

[PSUGuy]

Another SouthWest out of PHL guy here, Oct or early Nov are our trip times. The last 3 years we booked the morning the fares were released and they never went down from there. We're considering SW out of BWI if rates are unacceptable.

Bill From PA

 

[NJ Goofy]

Tinkerbell16 - "Did you book when the day they released flights? We are booking SW next week for our Sept trip out of Philly, and the prices are scary right now for August. We like to book as soon as they are available and next Thursday they release the next round. Worrying that they're going to be outrageous from what I am seeing now."

No, I waited a couple of times the price dropped below the 1st day and I didn't grab it. I booked about 5 weeks after they came out and paid about what the 1st day price was. We paid $266, last year it was $228, so I was hoping to get it that low.

 

[KSR0330]

I always book as soon as the flights come out. From my experience, this is the lowest the flight will ever be. I waited once and had to pay about $75. extra per seat. I'll never wait again!

 

[brownhaired_girl]

I would suggest looking at Google Flights. Put in your airport codes, choose the nonstop options (if that is what you want to look for), and then look month by month what the prices look like. You can develop a feel for what you should expect to pay. Be aware that when you see a low price fare date that you check to see which airlines are offering those prices (I personally won't fly Spirit). You have the option to take some airlines from your list. You can then start seeing when your preferred airline drops its prices. You have plenty of time to study trends. I have also had the best luck booking one way flights. You can also download the google flights on your smartphone and check flights often. I find that I can check a route in about 3 min or less. Once you put in your preferences, you can scroll month to month quickly.

 

[GenGen22]

I'm in Silicon valley and fly out of San Jose, CA and I've researched this my last two trips to WDW and have found flights are cheaper around the 6 month mark. Last trip I booked through Delta for $350 RT with one stop I think a 7 hr flight. This time I started looking through Google flights like the other OP suggested as it pulls all flights and Delta was still the cheapest with aprox about the same as before but was a little higher cost. I kept checking Southwest and at 5 months finally they had flights available and at a cost of $380 which I booked as it was only $30 more 4 years later so, that's a steal imo.

 

[KSR0330]

I suppose it depends on the airline. I only book Southwest, and flights are aren't released until 5-6 months out.

 

[Anal Annie]

I am only familiar with the DC area airports to MCO so can't advise about flying from the west coast but I would guess the pricing patterns are similar. I watch fares often so I'm familiar with how much they're running (and I often compare to Jet Blue so I have a comparison). If I already know trip dates when SW releases their schedules I try to book that morning if I see a flight time and price that I think is reasonable. But then I will continue to watch the fares daily to watch for drops regardless of if I already booked or not. I will watch right up until the day before departure!! We just went down from BWI to MCO Jan 3rd - 9th and I snagged a $9 credit on 12/9 and another $11 credit on 12/28 - just days before the trip!! If I am unable to book on the release day and a trip opportunity comes up I'm still generally familiar enough with prices to know if I've already missed most of the best prices. Then I just have to book when I see what I think is reasonable and keep watching.

Right now we're planning a trip in late Sept. for F&W so I am waiting for the next schedule release for Sept. when they're released on the 23rd. I will be up and online watching for them to load bright & early.

 

[mikegood2]

It can be a damned it you do damned if you don't situation. Like others said, if you find a price that you're comfortable with, book it.

This summer will be our third visit to WDW, the last two were in 2011 and 2013. All our trips were for June and were flying from Chicago.

Can't find my flight info, but believe we booked in early February 2011. All I remember about that booking was how upset my brother was with United. We picked a 9am flight which cost a little more, but felt it worked better for us. Then United and Continental merged and they switched us to a 6am flight we almost booked for $30 less a ticket. In 2013 we booked on March 10th for $220 a seat.

We still haven't booked our for this year yet, but we check on prices a few times a week for United, American and SW. So far we haven't seen anything under $320.

 

[cdndisneymum]

We live in Canada and fly out of Detroit; I look often at flights and cost, as soon as I see a good price (which includes the 30% higher cost-due to exchange), I book it.

 

[Anal Annie]

It can be a damned it you do damned if you don't situation. Like others said, if you find a price that you're comfortable with, book it.

This summer will be our third visit to WDW, the last two were in 2011 and 2013. All our trips were for June and were flying from Chicago.

Can't find my flight info, but believe we booked in early February 2011. All I remember about that booking was how upset my brother was with United. We picked a 9am flight which cost a little more, but felt it worked better for us. Then United and Continental merged and they switched us to a 6am flight we almost booked for $30 less a ticket. In 2013 we booked on March 10th for $220 a seat.

We still haven't booked our for this year yet, but we check on prices a few times a week for United, American and SW. So far we haven't seen anything under $320.

We started driving on our longer summer trips because it seems like summer airfare is so much higher. DH started driving a hybrid in 2013 which has really paid off on these trips. We can do it round trip for about $125 vs $300+ pp for summer air.

 

[DisneyBabies]

Thank you so much everyone! We will be flying out of Phoenix (PHX) and since we generally don't fly anywhere I guess all the prices seem high to me. The last time I flew on a regular basis, $150 round-trip fares were the rule, not the exception.

I'm going to do as brownhaired_girl suggested and look at google flights to get some info.

Thanks again for all of your help everyone!

 

[brownhaired_girl]

https://www.southwest.com/air/flight-schedules/index.html?clk=GFOOTER-FLY-FLTSCHEDULES

It looks like Southwest will be releasing their fall fares tomorrow 4/23. Looking at flights from PHX to MCO I am seeing 2 non-stop flights/day. If the Southwest flights are priced less than what many of the Google Flights that you are able to see over the next few months, I would maybe go for it. I have not personally flown on Southwest airlines but they seem to be well liked on the Disboards. Some day if I ever do fly Southwest I will spend some time learning about their checkin and boarding system.

 

[Azjenn]

Thank you so much everyone! We will be flying out of Phoenix (PHX) and since we generally don't fly anywhere I guess all the prices seem high to me. The last time I flew on a regular basis, $150 round-trip fares were the rule, not the exception.

I'm going to do as brownhaired_girl suggested and look at google flights to get some info.

Thanks again for all of your help everyone!

We fly out of phx too so I will be up bright and early with you tomorrow looking for our Sept trip too!