Question about booking International Flights . . .

Who knows? Flights have been cut back during covid-19. Will they return to their former frequency later this year? Even my Magic 8 ball refuses to answer. Anyone who knows for sure should be buying airline stock like crazy.

The truth is past history is not a prediction of what’s happening now. 2020 completely changed airline travel and you can just assume that whatever you booked now for 11 months out is going to have several changes between now and then

Thanks, I guess I'm just wondering what the "norm" is - we book and never look back, so I'm unsure if flights are ever added after we book. I know no one can 'predict' what COVID will bring/do to change things --- just wasn't sure if flights are typically added as time goes by.

Any norm that exists would probably not apply to 2021. If we weren't living through a pandemic, I wouldn't expect additional flights to be added. As it stands, I have no idea what is going to happen.

The pattern I've seen in the past is that fares from my origin (more competitive than any route out of NC) may go up and down, but at some point--probably a few months before departure--the gap between the good flight options (non-stop or one stop with good connection) and the less-attractive options (more stops, long layovers, etc.) widens. So I think it is smart for people who are picky about flight details not to wait too late to buy a ticket unless they live in a major gateway city (such as NYC or Boston) and are flying to a destination with a lot of non-stop flights.

Typically, US airlines set their schedules 330 days in advance, to which you allude with your mention of the booking window opening for you in 2 weeks. Barring something quite remarkable, those schedules historically have been relatively set in stone.

This year, US airlines are still opening schedules about 330 days in advance, but are often making rather dramatic changes to their schedules about two months prior to the month flights operate.

As others have mentioned above, I don't think you can rely on what has historically has happened for 2021. International schedules right now are fairly conservative (and probably realistic); domestic schedules are very optimistic. The November Delta schedule for my local airport (GSP, Greenville-Spartanburg, SC) to Atlanta is the pre-pandemic schedule. I'll be stunned if that is the schedule (and plane types) that actually operate.

Well, i don't know about late 2021 either. Last year i had two Delta Comfort+ tix booked to/from Portugal in Sept (RS tour cancelled) which we were able to get a full refund on due to iten changes Delta made in July. The first Delta CSR we called only offered an e-credit, and suggested we wait. The next week more Delta iten changes so I called again and the next Rep offered the refund credit to my booking cc. Ultimately the flights didn't happen and I would have received the refund anyway. Maybe call a CSR and find out what types of iten changes (eg time delays longer than x, aircraft changes, etc) trigger a refund offering vs an e-credit vs neither. But at least Delta is a reputable airline.

Nobody knows what is going to happen and anyone who says they do is a damnable liar. Since you are very set on seats with limited availability, book the early and keep your fingers crossed. Making big assumptions for this coming year based on the past is about the same as driving to the airport using your rear view mirror instead of the windshield.

A lot of the opinions on this forum that say travel to Europe is likely to be unsafe and/or the travel ban will not be lifted and/or the travel industry will not operate like before the pandemic, until 2022 or 2023 or ever, are probably from hyper-fearful travelers over 60 or 70, who are probably at a high risk compared to me. If this matters, I am 37, in average to good health, with no known major health problems. I had tickets to fly to Spain in October 2020. I already got my money back. I am tentatively supposing that if we buy tickets this month, and then if the travel ban is still in effect in October, the airlines will give us our money back, again. But before giving us our money back, the airlines will resist, trying to pressure us into accepting credits for future travel. About a month before my previous travel dates, the airline only changed my itinerary by making one of the flights leave one hour later. So I am tentatively supposing that there is no greater risk of buying plane tickets ten months in advance in 2021 compared to previous years. The same risks could happen as in the past: one or both my parents could have a health emergency just before my travel dates, risk of a pandemic starting has always existed, other risks that always existed are volcanoes, earthquakes, terrorism, riots, fires, floods, wars, my great-grandfather with my same last name had a heart attack and died when he was just under 50 so maybe I will have a health problem just before my travel dates, and so on.

Another consideration, if this helps: I understand that travel insurance exists. I have never bought it. I am considering getting it.

Mike L. -

We always get travel insurance-- my brother was killed in a car wreck here in America 7 yrs ago while my husband and I were out of the country - the insurance covered all expenses to get us back to the states emergently and basically reimbursed our whole trip. You never know when you will break an ankle, have your appendix rupture, have a death in the family. I'm a nurse and healthy also, but I see too much not to get the insurance.

Unfortunately, as a nurse, I'm getting less optimistic about International Travel this year as this vaccine rollout is already way behind in numbers. I'm hopeful things will improve in Jan and Feb - we shall see.

chinalake67--

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your brother, even though it has been some time ago. I'm sorry, too, you got a lot of answers to questions you didn't ask on this thread.

I'm an MD. I'm still hopeful for international travel in 2021... 🙂

chinalake67:
Which travel insurance did you buy? How easy or difficult was it to get the insurance company to take care of you when your brother died while you were outside the country?

Mike L -

My dad was in the Navy, so we qualify for USAA and most always use them. AAA offers Allianz and we've had good look with them too. There is a website insuremytrip.com that is great as it offers a comparison and prices from many companies for you to compare. Travel Insured is also VERY good. It's super easy to file a claim and get reimbursed - at least it has been for us as we have had to use it a few times for missed flights, lost luggage, cruise issues, etc.

Dave - thanks for the kind words.

You might book the international flights from Atlanta all together so you'll be changed as a group rather than be split based on your different starting points, then when it gets closer to the time to travel book your flights to Atlanta from home.

This may not make sense economically (I have no idea).

I have done a similar thing with trying to get frequent flyer tickets to Europe (I like to try to get the 1st or business class). Frequently I can't get a good ticket schedule (without a coach leg) out of Seattle so I find the same destinations out of Vancouver, or San Francisco, or LA and book that ticket way ahead. Then as the time gets close and the invariable switches take place, I can book a short hop flight to the place where my frequent flier ticket originates.

Travel bookings are way up for the second and third quarter of 2021. Those near the top of the vaccination list like old folks and teachers should be fine, but for those who are in the "rest of them" group, I might be a little nervous committing now to anything through June.