How early to book flights?

the earliest you can book is 330 days out from your return home flight. We always book then as we find it the cheapest and often you can get the bigger, more leg room seats like Delta Premium Select or Delta Comfort Plus for almost the same price as coach. So, we usually always book at our 330 day window.

Zach,
I booking history has always been (until COVID19) that I would book airfare as early as possible, assuming that I had made plans for where we wanted to go. For example, we have done a couple of transatlantic cruises were we flew to Europe and took a TA cruise back to the USA. I would book the cruise and once the airfare window of 330 days spend up, I would start checking for airfares.

Usually, I would go with what I found and book within a week.

With COVID19 and all the travel restrictions, I became more careful and waited. Unfortunately, because we had a safari in E. Africa for this Summer (put off two years in a row). I delayed booking, which was a mistake. Airfare kept going up and up. Eventually, I booked flights to Amsterdam using miles and the AMS to Africa and back with Qatar Air, since Delta, Air France and KLM were all going to cost me $2500 pp as opposed to about a thousand less had I booked earlier.

This topic comes up weekly on this Forum. COVID has changed all the old parameters. Flight cancelations and changes are frequent now, which are reported almost daily in the news services. Fuel prices are at record highs. If price is your priority, then book, but be aware that the flight times and connections stand a very high chance of being canceled/ changed. You may check Flight Aware to research the dependability of your flights. You can set up Google Flight price alerts to track price fluctuations and price history. Good luck!

I booked my last European trip last month about a week in advance. The one before that 2 months in advance. There is no right or wrong answer. I have never booked a flight in 20 years more than 3 months in advance.

There’s so much uncertainty now that I’d be very reluctant to book more than 3-4 months out, maybe I’d reconsider after this summer. There’s always the chance of another Covid flare up and a bunch of new restrictions slapped on. And, as mentioned above, flight cancellations are a daily routine, I’d be very hesitant to book something with a connection.

I'd go with no more than three months. I usually purchase around six weeks to two months.

These days many factors seem to be pushing up costs: fuel, COVID requirements, airports reducing landing slots, general inflation and more. I don't know if prices will go even higher before next year, no one really knows the future.

Even when prices are high, there seem to be options for getting a good price - especially for those willing to travel light. Airlines are generally willing to offer cheap prices to fill up empty seats. Better a cheap ticket filling a seat than nothing. If you buy too early, the airlines aren't worried about filling empty seats.

Well, you certainly received opposite answers here! I think that shows that it is really up to you. When you see a price that seems good is my strategy. I don’t know about Atlanta, but from theWest Coast, I would consider $750 a good price.

Are you willing to pay a bit more for refundable tickets? Often, these days, the markup is not that much.

I have refundable tix for this summer to the Caribbean, purchased in February as prices were on their way up and I was worried they’d skyrocket (they did). Fully refundable was $70 more per ticket. I have the itinerary set up on google flights to alert me for price changes, before and after my purchase.

Last week, I got an alert that the price had dropped dramatically — more than $300 per ticket. I immediately bought a new set and cashed in my original ones. An hour later, I checked the fare and it was back up again.

So, if you are willing to pay a little more initially, you can take advantage of future price drops (or have the additional peace of mind that if overall travel conditions turn unfavorable, you can just cash in your tickets and reschedule at a later date).

I’ve never felt the desire for refundable plane tickets in my many years of travel, but now feels like a great time to pay the slight increase and take advantage of the benefits.

I concur with beginning your flight search about 330 days in advance. I saved a LOT of money this year by booking well in advance as prices rose dramatically early in 2022. I'm not saying to book that far in advance, but keep checking and when you find a good deal, jump on it. I don't understand the difference between booking 11 months in advance or 2 months in advance. In either situation a flight can change or be canxd. I also never cared about flight insurance, but times have changed.

Always look at your 330 day mark. I posted about this earlier. We booked in February at our 330 day mark out - into Vienna, out of Munich and we paid $900 for Premium Select Seats (bigger and more leg room). I just looked and COACH today is $1400 and Premium Select is $4500. We always book at our 330 day mark. We fly out in November for a TAUCK Xmas Market River Cruise on the Danube.

Update: I ended up making the purchase not too long after I made the original post. Locked in the flight at $680. I just checked and my same flight is now $100 more expensive. That said I could look again in January and things may have stabilized and it’s around $500 at that point. Who knows? If I was a betting man I’d say it’s more likely to hit $1000 at some point than $500. I felt comfortable with the price at that time. It’s now a sunk cost and I now have something to look forward to in April. European countries #13, 14, and 15 here I come!

I used to be an early booker - 330 day and I got the "best" flights - not necessarily the best price but I set my budget and if it worked - I booked..... BUT after experiencing years of the airlines changing my flights and messing with my itinerary I've changed my tune and book around the 3 month mark. Airlines can change flights once per quarter and it seems most do it the last month of the quarter so depending on what month I'm traveling I might book a little sooner or a little later . Yes, it often mean I don't get those coveted one connection flights (I always have a connection since i fly from a small airport so it's always at least one connection) but it doesn't mean the cost is necessarily higher.

Zach, I am glad that you have found flights that met your needs! That is the perfect answer to this question. You bought when you felt it was a good time and you are not looking back!

I watch the internet for airfares for a month or two to get the feel for what normal airfares are.

Then when an airfare drops substantially, I will buy. It can be a month out or it can be 6 months out. There's no rhyme or reason very often to when fares drop. We seldom pay over 50% of the normal airfares.

Atlanta has a great airport, but airfares are not always the least expensive. There again, you can catch non-stop flights from there that take a lot of frustration of connecting flights out. That way you don't have to deal with O'Hare or JFK Airports where service is not a priority and flight delays are just too often. Cheapest fares are not necessarily the best if there are problems getting there.

We usually fly out of Nashville because they have heavy competition from Southwest and 3 budget air carriers. But we recently flew out of Huntsville cheaper to London connecting through Charlotte. We were not thrilled with Charlotte's TSA and the long walking distance to make international connections. We could have flown non-stop to London on American for more $.

I also suggest watching flights for a while to get an idea of the ebb and flow of prices. What is a good price? What is a great price? Don't listen to booking sites. If you see a good price, it will most likely be available again.

If I see a great price, I might book right away. If I don't see a great price, I'll wait and book a good price inside of two months.