How far in advance do you purchase your airline tickets?

[Tink&Goofy]

We are planning a trip for next March - spring break - the week of Easter. All the schools in our state have the same spring break, and of course, the airlines are fully aware of this. I have been monitoring the prices now for a month or so, and this far out, there are no specials to be had. The prices have been consistently high. I know it would be months before there would be any spring airfare specials, and even then, I'm sure they would not apply to the prime travel times. When do I purchase tickets?? I hate it when I purchase tickets, only to have them go on sale a month later. But I always worry that the fares will only go up. If I have until March, at what point do you think I just bite the bullet and go for it?? (Since there are 5 of us, a fluxuation of any sort really adds up!)

[faline]

I'd continue to monitor the prices. If you find a really good deal, buy it. Otherwise, set a deadline for yourself. I usually try to buy 3 months out if I haven't seen any real good deals up to that point. When I get to about the 3 month mark, I'll buy at the best price I can find at that point.

[Goofster]

We usually fly Airtran out of Detroit and I've come to find their sale fares are predictable. We are planning a trip in February, but the tickets are still full price at $89 each way. Too much in my opinion when they tend to come down to $59 during a sale. As of right now, Airtran has only advertised sale prices through November. Usually between October and November is when they start advertising sale prices for February/March. So, we usually end up waiting until about 3 months before the trip to buy our tickets. We usually get a good deal and save some $$$.

[CanadianWDWFan]

I'd continue to monitor the prices. If you find a really good deal, buy it. Otherwise, set a deadline for yourself. :thumbsup:

We watch the prices and when they hit a price that I am comfortable with, then I buy them. For our October trip we bought our tickets in April. AirTran had some pretty good deals out then. The prices still haven't dropped below what we paid for them.

[Minniemouse27]

As soon as Southwest releases their flights.

Even if they end up being more than the Ding fare, I can always get a credit and use it for our next trip!

[HOLITRIN]

The best time to purchase is when they are just released. They usually are at their cheapest (in my experience) and you don't have to continue checking.

Since the flights have been available, check late Tuesday nights into early Wednesday morning (11:00 p.m.- 2:00 a.m.). This is traditionally when airlines change the prices. Another time is very early Saturday mornings (5:00 a.m. - 8:00a.m.).

Good luck!!

[MickeyandTink]

Having purchased my tickets for our September trip several months in advance, only to have them go on sale two days later, I feel your pain. :doh: I would continue to monitor the flights regularly and keep an eye out for a sale. I like to use farecompare, but there are several other good ones as well. Also, some airlines (including Air Tran) will allow you to rebook at the lower price if the tickets go on sale after you booked and get a voucher for the price difference (less a small fee).

You've still got plenty of time. However, you may have to get a little less picky when you get down to a 2-3 month window. Of course, you could always use priceline or another similar site to try and get a low fare, but you may end up with some bad times and long layovers. Happy hunting!

[Tink#64]

We have always gone to WDW in May & I've always bought airline tix in January. I watch the sites for weeks - months, watching for flights & prices to be posted & I check everyday.:surf: It has been our experiences that for these May flights, tix drop to the lowest price mid to late January & then slowly start that uphill climb on the price again. The last 2 trips my DM decided at the last minute to go with us & we've paid almost twice as much for her tix on the same flight.:jaw:

But, I'm so obsessed that I continue checking the prices even after we've purchased our tix, just to see if I made the right decision. Lucky for me, I've never regretted buying when I did.
As some of the other posts have said, you just need to be comfortable with your decision, because you never know if the price will go up or down. It's kind of a shot in the dark! :shot:

[wifey5794]

We travel a lot so I book them as I see a deal. I purchased our December airline tics on July 4! And I got the best deal they have offered yet. I think you just have to watch and maybe set a price that you would like to pay and shoot for that.

[Christine]

I started watching our flights for spring break 2008 back in May. When they started to creep up daily, I went ahead and booked. Now the prices are almost double what I paid, so I'm glad I did it back then!l!

Also, I know that when I booked a flight once through American Airlines, then checked it later the price had gone down. I called them and they sent me vouchers for the difference to use on my next flight.

[pogo]

I'm alway watching for discounted fares. I'm watching now for next April and we haven't made any vacation plans yet. ;)

We have a lot of choices to WDW from Rochester and Buffalo (50 miles away). :mickey:

I see Southwest flys out of Portland and they have posted fares only until January. I'd wait at least until they post for March before I'd panick.:secret:

In April, we booked Buffalo to Albuquerque for October during one of their sales for half the price of any other fare. :thumbsup:

Download "Ding" and sign up for their email alerts........ watch and be patient.

Good luck and happy planning. :D

[poohluva]

As soon as Southwest opens up for our travel time slot!!

:plane:

[Dyanna]

We booked airfare thru Delta in Feb for our October trip. Glad we did as JetBlue's rates are higher.

[rwdavis2]

As far as possible. I don't think anyone gives significant discounts to Orlando. If you're going Southwest then book them as soon as your travel dates are bookable.
BD

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

We had vouchers that we had to use by Dec 1, 2006 so we booked for our Aug 2007 trip then. The tix were almost $300.00 each. They ended up going down almost $100.00 each. We had to reschedule our trip so they took the $50.00 off the difference and we now have about $25 for future travel.

[laward32]

We are going the last week of October and I just booked my airline tickets yesterday. I got them on sale through AA for 219 a piece. (that's with taxes). Everything I've priced today would have been at the lowest 330 a piece. It's hard to decide if you should wait and hope for a sale or take a chance and not get the day or time you want. Good Luck:mickey:

[Lily]

Since the parks are pretty busy on weekends, I prefer to spend the weekends traveling. This year, we're flying out on a Saturday and returning on a Saturday. Since weekends sell out the fastest, I had to book air way in advance. I booked our September trip in February. I would have booked earlier but didn't have the money yet. :D

[RockChalkKimball]

Alot depends on the time of year and how flexible you are. After years of trying to convince my DH and my DM to fly, I finally talked them into for our Dec/Jan trip. We had some very specific times we needed and even though it was 5 months out, I was having trouble getting a decent rate on what we needed. I called a travel agent, and he told me the problem was that there were cruise groups leaving on the same date and they had booked up most of the seats. Since there are 10 of us going, it ended up being about the same price to drive as it was to fly. So, we will make the long trek by care again this year. On the other hand, my DH has to go to Tampa in a couple of weeks and we got a really great price on SW. Even though it is short notice..... Go figure.....