When to purchase airfare?

[tammyandtommy]

Hi we are looking to go Oct 8th, and back Oct 15th, BUT ont want to pay too much, and also dont want to miss out on a sale! When do you all buy tickets? This is our first time flying! Thanks

 

[brentalex]

It is all a big guessing game. The prices can change all the time. Sometimes you need to have an idea of what is an acceptable price to pay and then watch the web sites to see how things are. Then if you see something you like, buy it. When I was looking for airfare for next month, I started pretty much as soon as the prices were available for my dates. I would look daily and eventually found what I felt was a great price, and bought the tickets. I think if you have an idea and buy when the price hits your range, then buy it.

 

[tammyandtommy]

anyone know what they regularly run in October

 

[Snow Shoe]

Personally, I start looking at the 11 month window. That far out I've found some very good fares in the past. My feeling is that you don't always get the best deals the closer to your departure date. One time I purchsed tickets, and about 3 months prior to departure, they actually went down in price signifcantly. I called the airline and got vouchers for the price difference and the new price of the tickets. Buying airline tickets is a crap shoot at best nowdays. Good luck!!!

 

[airplane]

My rule of thumb (out of ACY, PHL, EWR)
If the price is under $150.00 I book it w/o hesitation.
If $175.00, I think about it and start comparing it to other airlines, if I see the price start to even slightly increase, I book it.
If it's over 200.00 I'll wait to buy them until I see a sale.

 

[twotommygirl]

Hey, first of all I wanted to say that we, too, are Tommy and Tammy. Our anniversary falls in October and this is usually when we go on vacation. This year we went on, I believe it was October 16, and we booked it in August. We are a family of 5 flying out of Long Island to Orlando, on Southwest, and we only paid 49.99 each way. That was just a little over $500 for a family of 5 to fly roundtrip on a nonstop flight. You can get good deals for October.

 

[stacy6552]

Search for airfares at various times between your city and MCO. Then you know whether or not you can expect the fares to go down. For example, I know that I can usually get tix for about $160, so if the fares are above that months and months in advance, I wait.