Which one is better.....

[imktdqt810]

booking airfare 9 months out or 6 months out? Is it cheaper this far out or will it be cheaper 6 months out? It has been over 12 years since I have booked airfare....so I was just wondering what is better these days. Thanks in advance.

 

[DVC California]

News article on ABC states 6 weeks is best.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/01/best-airfares-buy-6-weeks-before-flight/

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Typically airfare, outside of major holidays, follows an continous wave (factoring out price increases that are unplanned). Usually there are decent rates when airfares first come out, then get more expensive, then cheaper as other lower cost carriers post their fares, then more expensive until around the 4 - 6 week mark. Now this is very general, but gives you an idea.

 

[DebbieB]

News article on ABC states 6 weeks is best.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/01/best-airfares-buy-6-weeks-before-flight/

That is a general rule but I think Orlando is more of an exception. People tend to book their flights to Orlando earlier than they would most other cities. Many other cities are business travel and that tends to be booked closer to the date. If you wait until 6 weeks before you might get a better fare but be prepared to take unpopular times or connections.

 

[sam_gordon]

News article on ABC states 6 weeks is best.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/01/best-airfares-buy-6-weeks-before-flight/

This '6 week rule' was posted a couple days ago. I decided to test it. Here are my results (from my post a couple days ago)...

Just for grins, I decided to test this... six weeks out from today is 3/14.
RT from my home airport (LEX) to MCO with a return 1 week later:

Depart 2/22 (3 weeks)
Airtran: $197
Delta: $219
United: $286
Continental: $396

Depart 3/14 (6 weeks)
Airtran: $199
Delta: $219
United: $265
Continental: $265

Depart 3/21 (7 weeks)
Airtran: $197
Delta: $253
United: $254
Continental: $310

Depart 4/11 (10 weeks)
Airtran: $207
Delta: $2219
United: $253
Continental: $278

Depart 5/16 (15 weeks)
Airtran: $197
Delta: $219
United: $261
Continental: $261

So the prices at 15 weeks out are slightly better than 6 weeks out. The prices at 3, 7, and 10 weeks are better for some and worse for others.

All prices are using Travelocity (because they'll give me a summary of multiple airlines). You might get better prices by going direct to the airline.

The bottom line is there is NO magic time. Our last flight (June of 2011) I booked ~320 days out. Prices NEVER got as low as they did when I booked.

As has been mentioned, keep an eye on prices, book when you're comfortable, and know it's a gamble. You can book today and prices drop like a rock tomorrow. You can NOT book today and prices skyrocket tomorrow (and don't come down). If you're going to be upset if prices go down after you book, don't look again (unless you're booking SW or JetBlue(?) where you can get credit).

 

[DebbieB]

This '6 week rule' was posted a couple days ago. I decided to test it. Here are my results (from my post a couple days ago)...

The prices that you posted, were they for a particular flight or just the cheapest of the day regardless of time or connections?

 

[Brian Noble]

There really isn't a "magic time", because the airlines' yield management systems are constantly adapting to the way people buy tickets.

The only thing you can do is to watch your market for a while to get a sense for what "good" and "bad" prices will be---recognizing that it is also seasonal for some routes. Once you have an idea of what a fair price is (not the very best rock-bottom price, but a fair one) wait until tickets hit that "fair price" for flights you want and buy them.

It is unrealistic to expect to get the lowest possible fare every time. But, with just a little bit of research you won't pay significantly more than necessary.

 

[seashoreCM]

deleted

 

[imktdqt810]

Thank you for the info!!! All this is very helpful!!

 

[sam_gordon]

The prices that you posted, were they for a particular flight or just the cheapest of the day regardless of time or connections?

It was the cheapest of the day. I really didn't want to spend an hour researching this. The above took me about 5-10 minutes. Since I used Travelocity, SW prices weren't available (they don't service my airport anyway, neither does JetBlue).

IMO, there are WAY too many variables to issue a blanket "rule" about the best time to buy airfare. Price of oil, destination, time of year, and the amount of other passengers will all factor in to the "current" cost of seats.

 

[Donna M]

I always buy my tickets to MCO as early as possible. I got JetBlue tickets as soon as posted. This way I was able to get non-stop and at times I wanted. They are now about $412 higher than what I paid, per ticket!

There are still cheaper seats than what I have, but I like the times and non stop features.