When to book air line tickets?

Mary: I’d be quite surprised if that $590 RT fare included taxes and fees. Still, if what you’re seeing now is too high for you, I’d recommend waiting a bit. Sign-up for some e-mail alerts & keep checking a few of your favorite sites for awhile…you have some time. Nobody really knows when fares will rise or fall, but they change constantly. As soon as you see a fare that’s reasonable and otherwise meets all of your travel requirements, snatch it up without delay. It could change in the amount of time it takes you to call someone to see what they think. Right before you buy, double check the airline’s official site…sometimes the fare will be lower. There isn’t any great science around this stuff. I started looking in January but waited until March of last year to buy. Fares went down from January to March, and I ended up with a great fare that was never again offered at a lower price than what I paid. That’s just an example…it doesn’t always work this way. There are tons of variables that go into pricing. I’m starting to look now for summer and fall of this year. Good luck!

Thanks for the quick reply!

I will keep looking on a daily basis and book immediately when I find the right fare. Does anyone have a favorite website for finding good fares?

I like Kayak.com--you can set daily e-mail alerts for several destinations. It's really difficult to tell when it's the best time to purchase summer tickets--I've been watching them for a couple of weeks and they haven't gone down--I'll continue to monitor. I'd be happy with anything less than $800 (from Atlanta) for summer travel.

I am starting to wonder if the $295 I saw on British Airways was a mistake. It was SO far below everything else, then and now. I am still kicking myself!

I use kayak.com quite frequently as well...but for e-mail alerts over the long term, I use yapta.com. Kayak's e-mail alerts will only be sent out 10 times before they expire...and you have to remember to go back to the website to renew them. You can opt to have Kayak send them to you weekly, but that means you won't get a jump on any short-term sales, which can pop up at any time. And for longer-term research, having the alert expire after 10 days just isn't long enough for me.
Another idea is to sign up for the e-mail alerts for all the airlines that fly your intended route(s).

Thanks for the suggestions...I will sign up immediately!

Another tip that someone mentioned on another thread is to institute alerts for nearby airports as well...in your case, probably Oakland and Sacramento. I've had good luck in the past flying Syracuse-Detroit-Madrid for a couple of hundre $$ less than people who got on in Detroit....go figure.
And if you can fly mid-week, you may see some savings over Fri-Sun.

Stop kicking yourself Mary, I'm sure Michael is right and it didn't include tax & fees, if it was right in the first place. I live a couple miles north of SF and I have never, ever seen prices that low from SF in all the many years I've been going to Europe. Especially on a major carrier like BA, even charter airlines aren't that cheap. I've been getting weekly alerts from Kayak for 8 mos now and have not seen prices anywhere near that cheap. I'd wait, as others have said.

Hi Mary,

I usually check travelocity.com and the major airline websites. Your "lost" price of $295 each way doesn't sound impossible. That's $590 r/t. We flew from NJ to Munich (Sept. '09) r/t non-stop on Lufthansa for $461 pp booked through wwwl.lufthansa.com.

Maybe I'm wrong here, but after buying airline tix for 6 trips in the last 8 years, I've noticed the fares to be generally lower on Tues. nights.

Flying on weekdays also seems to help lower the price.

Paul

Ok, I'll settle the argument about the airfare. I got the alert from airfarewatchdog. com about the cheap fares to Italy with BA, in my case from Seattle. The total cost was $740, $295 each way plus taxes, etc. That being said, I recommend that you set up with airfarewatchdog for several airports that you can fly out of and also read their blog on a daily basis. You can get daily updates for you airports if you want. Last year i got round trip to Amsterdam for under $500 in July and then again in August. Okay so it was with US Air and I did have to go through Philly but I couldn't resist the fare and in both cases, there were no problems. One thing they do say, is that sometimes airlines put out sales on holiday weekends as they think not that many people will be checking fares. The fares to AMs were on President's Day weekend so there might be some truth to that. Just a thought.

At $740, still a pretty good deal. I'd be booking it Dan-o!

Thanks everyone for straightening it out...I WAS silly for not booking :) Unfortunately, I did not have a choice and had to wait for this week. HOPEFULLY another deal will come along. I have signed up for every alert suggested!

Mary: It’s interesting you mentioned a possible pricing mistake. I don’t believe that was the case here, as Leslie has outlined the fare that you referenced, but this actually has occurred online before. I believe it was Aer Lingus whose intention was to offer either a 0€ or 1€ promotional fare for flights within Europe last year but inadvertently also offered the same fare for some transatlantic flights online. People purchased the fare before the mistake was corrected, and Aer Lingus decided to honor it. So, you never know. A few years back, I grabbed 4 tickets online with a summer RT fare from BWI to FRA of $425 total pp when fares before, during, and after my purchase were double that with every other carrier, including the one I purchased from. I believed it to be a mistake, but who cares.

"One way, Vancouver, BC to Dusseldorf for the last week of may € 344.00 total ($495) on Air Berlin. So that would be your fare to beat."

OK, for $100 more, you can fly straight from SFO to Milan on Swiss Air. Total, ai is $1106 and you won't have to go to Vancouver (which will cost more than $100 RT).

Fares will come down lower (I hope!)....

Wow Michael...I had no idea there was a direct flight on Swiss Air...thanks!

I just flew with Swiss a few weeks ago from ORD, and I can tell you that there are no non-stops from SFO to MXP on Swiss. You'll connect at ORD and again at Zurich. In fact, all flights from the US on Swiss connect via Zurich. I believe they will offer a non-stop from SFO to Zurich beginning this summer (but not from SFO to MXP). BTW…great airline.

We usually fly over the pond around the 3rd or fourth week of May, and usually don't find the best prices until three or two months before we go.

We always sign up for auto-notices from several sites, and wait until a good price comes along, then book directly with the airline.

And we don't book a flight until we find one around $550 with all fees. That is what we paid in 2009, and close to what we have paid in previous years.

The only way that yoou can do this is to have the auto notice function running, and to grab a deal when it shows up.

What amazes me is that the best prices usually show up on Sat morning?!

Thanks again everyone for all of your tips! I have signed up for just about every alert available, and I am ready to purchase at a moments notice! I am relieved to find out that I did not necessarily miss out on the only deal that will come along....when purchasing 4 adult tickets, the difference between $2400 or close to $6000 is HUGE!

Hello all-

A few weeks has passed since my last post, and just wanted to let you know that I booked my 4 tickets!

We ended up booking round trip from San Francisco to Zurich for $674 ($784 with tax)! Leaving May 27, and returning June 15.

I just ran across this fare this morning, and I don't think I could get much lower if I waited, especially since we are at less than 4 months until departure.

Do you think I got a pretty good deal?

Hello all-

A few weeks has passed since my last post, and just wanted to let you know that I booked my 4 tickets!

We ended up booking round trip from San Francisco to Zurich for $674 ($784 with tax)! Leaving May 27, and returning June 15.

I just ran across this fare this morning, and I don't think I could get much lower if I waited, especially since we are at less than 4 months until departure.

Do you think I got a pretty good deal?

Wow Mary! That's an excellent airfare! What airline did you are you using? Did you find the fare by chance or get an e-mail alert?
Congrats--now you can begin planning your trip!

Sharon,

The $674 per person airfare was on US Airways. Although I was signed up for the alerts on several sites, I just happened upon it, and never received an alert.

Yes, we can finally start planning! We have a villa reserved in Tuscany in the middle of or vacation, but now I get to have fun planning the rest of the trip!

It certainly did pay off to wait! I am very relieved that it is booked and I can start planning the rest of the trip :)

That is great that you found such a good fare! I am still looking for something closer to a $1000 for my summer trip LAX to France and then AMS to LAX.

Is there a site that allows for alerts with multi-destination flights? I've been looking for WAS-->PRG, FRA--->WAS for months now, and can't find ANYTHING better than 1150/1200.

I have the same question as Erin! We're hoping to do an open-jaw flight but can't find a site that will let you set up alerts for them!