Need some BIG savings advice on airline tickets.

If you search on the web you'll find newspapers quoting a very specific day in advance. You can also find advice on this forum, since this is a regular question.

Do you know who some of the biggest purchasers of supercomputers are? Airlines. They constantly try to wring every dollar they can out of ticket sales. Weather, conventions, travel patterns, the economy, you name it and they try to use it to estimate demand. And it isn't as if the schedules are printed and sealed away for good. They are changing daily, perhaps even hourly, as they use current booking info to try to figure out how to sell the remaining tickets for as much as possible. That's why the magic day in advance changes in every newspaper article.

My advice is to look at the historical range of prices for that time of year, assume this year will be similar, and if you see a fare in that range or better then take it. You won't get the rock-bottom price, but you won't be buying an expensive last-minute ticket either. So, sorry, I don't have any tips for "BIG savings" but I imagine you'll get some replies promising when to buy to get that; of course if they're wrong, don't expect reimbursement.

Your choice to buy from the airline directly is smart. If there are any problems you want them to own the responsibility for fixing it, not to have them refer you to a travel website that in turn says "sorry, call the airline."

Well, the Miami people can go on Norwegian. One stop in Norway then into Orly in Paris. I see outbound flights starting at $255 one way. Remember that this is a budget airline and each little thing is extra, but that's a really good fare. The Boston people can take advantage of similarly good fares out of New York, as Norwegian flies out of there.

There's also TAP, which is Portugal's airline, showing about $900 roundtrip with a stop in Lisbon.

Your nonstop from Miami is on AirFrance...pricing out at about $1500 roundtrip.

Definitely buy directly from the airline you choose.

I'm traveling from Florida to Paris in June. Not sure if in the end this will make sense, but it was about $700 per person less to book a flight from Newark or other NYC airport non stop to Paris than from Orlando, Miami or Tampa. We can get to Newark for about $300 per person round trip. So instead of paying $1700 round trip per person out of Orlando, we are paying no more than $1300 per person. For us the savings (as a couple) is $800.

Look at Norwegian, Iceland Air, Air Canada and WOW for cheap flights from Boston. I have no suggestions for Miami. If you decide to do what Sara suggests above, be sure to leave a lot of time between your flights. When I say a lot, I mean a lot. If your first flight is delayed and you miss the second, you will be completely out of luck. That means looking at the historical on time rate for your initial flight, and historical late arrivals at your second airport and leaving at least six hours between the flights. Some flights are notorious for always leaving late and some airports are notorious for departure and arrival delays. Frankly, I would fly in the night before, but the cost of a hotel room may eat up your savings. This story, in which the passenger was blameless for missing the flight to connect to her international flight (http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/columnist/burbank/2014/04/24/flight-overbooked-bumped-flier/8092123/) illustrates the problem with unprotected connecting flights. I know someone (my brother) whose flight from Houston was supposed to arrive at Newark at noon for a flight to Paris at 6 PM and he missed the 6 PM flight, which by the way was delayed over an hour. Why was there a delay? Thunderstorms in Houston and then a backup for departing flights. He could not afford the cost of any ticket to Paris on such short notice and anyway the airline canceled his return leg when he did not show up for the flight to Paris. This happened in 2013 and he is still trying to get his money back from United, which is not going to happen.

JHK: That USA Today article you linked should be required reading for anyone thinking of booking separate tickets. As in that example, a lot of people who do it don't understand the risk - and the airlines' total lack of responsibility (they're only responsible for getting you to your destination on that particular ticket, not your final destination with another ticket).

I do book unprotected connections sometimes but I have "rules" LOL!

For example, there must be a minimum of 4 hours between flights. And if I was flying to NY to catch a flight to Europe, overnight would be the mininum.

I also have a full understanding of the costs of my alternatives. For example, I am doing this in May. I am flying BA to London and then about 5 hours later I have a BA flight to Paris. If I miss the Paris flight I have reserached how much the train is going to cost an am prepared to pay. (Actually until I found the good BA fare my original plan was overnight in London and then train to Paris so I already have a train ticket for the day after my flight in this case. I just have to find a cheap hotel in London, but if this happens I can always stay at the airport!)

I also don't check bags when doing this, am fairly mobile and can move quickly if needed.

A bit off topic but the USA Today article is talking about a return flight--very different from an outbound. Miss an outbound and everything is canceled as a no-show. Miss a return, you pay a change fee and the difference in price. Based on the 700 Ms. Chan paid to get back, seems she only had to pay change fee and price difference. A new one-way would have been several thousand.

Good comments about making sure there is enough time in between unprotected flights. I had thought about flying out the day before - just in case. I will definitely do that now.

Try Turkish Air if they fly out of your chosen airports - usually their prices are unbeatable but may have long layovers in Istanbul (I usually just spend the night there and have a great time). You really sholdn't have any problems getting a good airfare for October. While there is no established superior window during which to buy, I would say looking right now is a bit early (anything more than 6 months out is unlikely to yield seasonal sales, like fall sales which get advertised later, or the best prices because airlines don't have a good handle on their demand that far out).

Thanks to everyone who's responded. I appreciate your tips & your time.

Looking to travel nonstop, connecting is not an option at an average cost. Traveling with my 80-year-old mother. Currently the average price for a round trip ticket is $1300.00 per person. Therefore, I’m probably looking to pay a high price for convenience. Does anyone know what the average cost maybe so I know when to grab the right price?

Thanks,
Scott

$1300 sounds really high for October especially given it's the East Coast. However, how many airlines fly non-stop from either Boston or Miami? If not many, then I can see why this price is so high. If it were me, I would wait to get a better price. Spend some months tracking costs over time, I doubt you could do any worse than $1300 even if you waited. Having said that, the only "right" price that exists is one you're willing to pay and feel good about.

PS. Right now, Itasoftware (http://www.itasoftware.com/) is showing a fare between $800-$815 on either Aer Lingus or Iceland Air for early October from Boston - but there is one stop in Dublin and Reykjavik, respectively. Big savings often come with some compromise, unfortunately.

You can never tell when is the best time to buy. I watched prices from BOS to CDG, CDG to BOS for a few months last spring/summer for our end of Sept trip, 2 week trip. 08 Aug I bought non stop, r/t on Air France for $895. I just happened to look at the right time. They were $100-$300 higher up until then.