How far in advance are you booking air for 2022?

I think you’re looking too early, l would hold tight. There is no rush. If you book now, your scheduled flight will change many times, leading to more frustration. I would only book that early if the fare is phenomenal and you can withstand several flight changes and sitting on the phone for hours to rebook. Airlines don’t have their kinks, demand or supply worked out yet following a major external shock to the system.

Thanks Agnes! I had sticker shock.

I am using a travel agent for my trip to France early next May. She said end of October-November for airline booking. She will let me know if that changes.

In normal years, there was often a airfare sale during Thanksgiving week. No telling if that will be true again. I have a RS tour booked for next June, but am waitlisted for an earlier date. So I am waiting until I have to commit, to see if that waitlist comes through. Lots of activity going on now among the airlines to try and gear up, so I think we can expect a lot of schedule changes and added flights before next spring.

Given the huge backlog of demand and all the flyers with flight credits, 2022 will not follow a normal pattern. I think all the flights will fill early and the airlines will get any price they want. I just booked on Air France for late March to early June. On the March inbound, Economy Premium was $750. On the June outbound, they wanted $1300! for the same seat.

I've been wondering the same thing. I "feel" like seats will be somewhat limited and the squeeze will be on until airlines are sure of regular traffic. I've been "modeling" flights to Italy for May 2022. Fares don't seem to be horribly more than what I paid for my cancelled flight in 2020.

I wonder, with both airlines making changes and our ability to change/cancel, if grabbing a seat now and watching what happens might be the game plan. I had Delta make an impossible change to my itinerary once (had me arriving from MSP at ATL after my ATL to LHR flight left). That allowed me to cancel and rebook a better itinerary at $300 less. Even if I end up with a Delta credit at the end of it all, that simply gives me motivation for another trip!

We are planning to fly April 25 (Chicago/Zurich) & May 13 (Rome/Chicago). In between we'll travel by train to Lucerne, Varenna, Florence & Rome.

I'm starting to track a couple different itineraries now on Google. I can get nonstop both ways through United at $719, and through Swiss Air--return flight stop in Zurich--for $874. And chances are we'll be adding some type of premium/'Economy Plus' extra room. I gauge when all is said and done, including the extras we'll pay around a grand apiece for these open jaw flights.

Hard to determine how this will shake out in such uncertain times, but regardless, as soon as I book air I will secure some trip insurance. Never have had to use it in three previous trips that I've gotten the coverage, but $125-$150 for $5000 coverage in my opinion is a small price to pay to protect against the unknown.

I’ve booked for May, but that was with frequent flyer miles and I always book that far in advance.

I booked my flights for May 2022 yesterday. I wanted Delta Comfort + going over to Stockholm and regular Main cabin coming back from Bergen, Norway. Given the pent-up demand, I felt this is not too early for me to book. I’m in Atlanta and don’t want to do the gymnastics of finding cheapo airfare from other airports adding to the number of connections, etc. plus there are two friends flying with me and I wanted to ensure we are all on the same flights.

if you want to get a sense of the roller coaster that is airline prices, set up an alert on Google Flights for your intended route. You'll get emails when there's a substantial change in the fare. Also look at the historical graphs they have showing the hills and valleys. Just keep in mind that airlines are constantly "guessing" at what a route is worth and what the traffic will bear and also tracking each other's fares. And if they're smart, which they are, they also realize that the new normal might not match the old normal.

As an aside, it turns out that Emirates is allowed to fly from NYC to Milano, and they are considered one of the world's best airlines.

Back in April nonstop flights for September from DFW to Madrid were about $500 roundtrip now its jumped significantly. For about $800 I could have gone to Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt or Rome. I don't think I will feel comfortable flying to Europe until the US lifts COVID testing on return. My fear is getting COVID and not being allowed to fly back in. What happens? Do I get quarantined? How much do I have to pay? What if I still test positive after that? So many annoying questions.

On top of me not wanting to have a thing stuck up my nose.