When to buy Labor Day weekend flights

[deannaf87]

We'll be flying in Thursday night and out Tuesday midday (ideally). Prices seem pretty high right now so hoping they drop some since we are still a ways away. However, I've never flown on a holiday weekend before so not sure if I should just go ahead and buy. I have my eye on 1 specific flight time combo, not much flexibility.

 

[sponica]

Eh, buy when it hits your max threshold. It's a roll of the dice. Sure they might go down, but they might also go up....

 

[sam_gordon]

We'll be flying in Thursday night and out Tuesday midday (ideally). Prices seem pretty high right now so hoping they drop some since we are still a ways away. However, I've never flown on a holiday weekend before so not sure if I should just go ahead and buy. I have my eye on 1 specific flight time combo, not much flexibility.

I'll tell you down to the minute when to buy to get the cheapest price, on one condition... give me the next set of winning power ball numbers. Deal?

As mentioned, there's no "magic time". I would purchase when I'm comfortable (that doesn't mean "happy") with the price. Also know there's a good chance even after you book that that "specific flight time combo" could change, possibly by hours.

 

[_19disnA]

I would purchase airline tickets associated with any major holiday as soon as you know your travel plans. The lowest price tickets tend to sell first and they are unlikely to offer specials when the planes are likely to be full with holiday travelers. The best flight times & non-stop tickets also tend to sell out sooner. Then you might be stuck traveling very eary/late in the day which can be very inconvenient.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

Prior to the pandemic, the window for cheapest flight used to be 60 days. Now it’s soonest as the flight are released, which is around 11 months

 

[kylenne]

I would purchase airline tickets associated with any major holiday as soon as you know your travel plans. The lowest price tickets tend to sell first and they are unlikely to offer specials when the planes are likely to be full with holiday travelers. The best flight times & non-stop tickets also tend to sell out sooner. Then you might be stuck traveling very eary/late in the day which can be very inconvenient.

Yeah I agree with this, I've done a lot of holiday weekend travel and very rarely do prices ever come down. Those flights tend to book up ridiculously fast. We are flying down Memorial Day weekend for an 11 day trip and I booked back when JetBlue had their Cyber Monday sale. Their website was slammed but I'm glad I was patient and quick on the draw because prices shot way up since then. Those flights always leave full too.

 

[sam_gordon]

Prior to the pandemic, the window for cheapest flight used to be 60 days. Now it’s soonest as the flight are released, which is around 11 months

The days of a "window" for cheap flights were gone LONG before the pandemic. It varies so much based on time of year, time of flight, origin airport and destination airport, that there was NO "rule" for getting the cheapest air.

Bottom line, AS SOON AS YOU THINK ABOUT GOING, start stalking airfare. Even if you're looking before flights are available (let's say you want to go somewhere in June 2024), look at this year to get an idea of what tickets would cost.

Southwest (and now Delta, don't know about other legacies) don't have change fees. So after you book, keep monitoring your flight and if the prices come down, contact them for a credit. If your airline charges a change fee, and you'll be upset if you find out you didn't get the lowest price, don't look after booking.

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

A lot depends on what airport you fly out of. We've done labor day weekend many times out of Chicago which affords us tons of choices. For us we've usually booked 120 days and in. If you fly from an airport that has 1 nonstop per day it's a totally different ballgame.

I would set up a Google flight alert for your days. Both one for the specific flights you want and one for a generic search for those days.