When do you book your flights?

To me prices are so variable on airfares there is no "sweet spot". I buy them when I have room in my budget to pay for them. I went on Delta at the end of the year just to look at prices for April and was shocked at the low price I got from Spokane to Paris so grabbed it even though I didn't really want to pay for it right now, hahaha.

You should start looking now and as soon as you see a price you can live with book it.

I got a great price on a Comfort Plus level. I've been flying Delta One but the RTs I'm seeing on Delta from Spokane are over $6000 which to me means they don't want any bookings, hahaha. Economy Comfort for my dates this spring were just over $700. I have not paid that little E-V-E-R. Or well maybe when I flew Laker from FL to Gatwick back in the 80's, hahaha.

Good advice from Pam. I rarely wait until 4 months out as RS suggests. Instead, I monitor prices for my preferred flights on Google flights and purchase while seats I want are still available. I always book with the airline, not an online agent, and always with a US carrier (Delta, United or American) so that I can easily use any flight credit that I get if I cancel or rebook the flight. If prices drop after I book, then I cancel and rebook using the credit leaving me with excess credit for some future flights. I usually book Business Class for an overnight flight so I can sleep and premium economy for a daytime flight, thereby saving some money. I also book multi city which is sometimes cheaper than flying in and out of same popular airport. Hope this is helpful.

I agree with Pam. I buy as sooon as my plans are firm and I can live with the price.

I think waiting till 4 months out can be risky. We ended up on a less desirable route going to Sicily because our plans were slow to solidify and by the time they had, prices had gone up sharply. I wasn’t willing to pay the elevated price for nonstop to Rome. So we had two connections because we waited. We bought maybe 5 months out. Now one time I bought tickets to London six weeks out (it was work related) and I got a really good price. But I could not do do that usually no matter how much money it saved. I like things settled.

I do not think it is too early to buy for September. But certainly you should start looking so you know what is a good price on your route.

That's easy, when the price is the lowest.

But then that is the problem. Seriously though, I find decent prices anywhere from 6 to 3 months before my dates, and that works. I have in my mind what a "good" price is from my regional airport to most places in Europe (Little less for some hubs, bit more for Greece and airports requiring a connection)

Class of ticket does not change timing too much. Being a Delta guy myself, I do not think timing between Main Cabin and Comfort Plus is really any different. I do notice that Premium Select seems to be popular and sells out earlier than other classes though.

With Delta, you will also see upgrade offers all the time, so check back, the offer will be for a specific flight, not all segments, but once in a while you can snag something cheap, up to Comfort+, Premium, or even Delta One, but usually not a great deal.

The other advantage with Delta, is if you do check back, and your ticket price dropped significantly, rebook and take the savings as a credit for future travel or upgrades.

Good advice above.

When booking comfort plus and above (premium economy, business etc), which is all the time internationally, I take into consideration the limited number of seats available in that class. I’m looking to snag two seats together on one of the sides in a 2-3-2 or 2-4-2 configuration - further narrowing my choices. I start looking as soon as I know I’m going and like Pam, sometimes I’m looking before I know I’m going. : ) I usually track prices for a few weeks and check the seat map(s) at the same time watching for availability of my desired seats.

In my experience, if you want anything other than main cabin, waiting 4 months out may leave you stuck in a middle seat, separated from your traveling companion(s) or worse, empty-handed.

I’m picky about my seat location (front row Comfort Plus, aisle seat), so that drives me to purchasing my ticket earlier than if I didn’t care which aisle seat I wanted. I purchased my flight to Prague & home from Rome a month ago for a trip in May/June & was surprised that half of my desired seats were gone.

Personally, I know that my preferred method of travel happens to save me a lot of money traveling by train and going to less touristy cities where activities & lodging are cheaper, so I don’t stress as much with the price of an airplane seat that will give me some sleep to enjoy the trip. I’m usually looking on Delta as soon as I have the starting & ending locations of a trip determined- around 6-9months.

If you want the Premium seats - up from Comfort, those do get reserved faster. I purchased those for one trip, and they’re a nice option.

I'm not traveling abroad again until March 2027 (into Rome, out of Bari), but if we're saying that 9 months is not too early to book, then I'll probably be looking at it towards late spring.

We booked last April's trip in July 2024, so I guess it was that far in advance. Question--do all airlines nickel-and-dime you up from the basic fare? Last we had booked Lufthansa was in 2017, and this must be a relatively new thing as then I did not remember the number of surcharges for booking a seat, for bags, for certain parts of the cabin, for taxes/charges and of course the 'Economy Plus'--different name for each carrier-- where seats are same width/height but charge $200-$300 for an extra 18" of leg room. Worth it? In some cases yes. But even without it, I think it turned an $850 Boston/Zurich/Florence, Catania/Munich/Boston into nearly $1100 per person.

Incidentally, I may be the only one but in four trips, they've always been 'open jaw' so it's been easier and more cost-effective to not book direct flights but 2-legged journeys stopping in prime European hubs, like Frankfurt, Zurich or Munich. Some people might just want to get there, but with a 2-3 hour layover, it breaks up the long trip and to me is more enjoyable. One caveat--those two legs need to be with the same carrier, so there will be no worries about the bags being transferred one flight to the other.

I am intrigued by the Delta Comfort Plus deal, and will be investigating when we start to 'check the board'. I'm always looking for a way to build a better mousetrap here. I'm definitely a value guy, and I'm convinced that for booking air doing due diligence in research can save a lot of money.

Thank you to the RS community for so many really thoughtful replies. I thought 4 months out seemed risky, thus my question to you all.
I’m seeing flights from Cincinnati to Florence and Milan for >$2300 for main cabin seats Premium Economy looks too high for us to swallow for two.
I suppose we could buy down with points, but it’s too early to make those decisions today.
I like the idea of checking back in for a credit if prices fall though.

Hello

You've already received great advice, but I just wanted to add that last year I watched flight prices to Europe for a few months and the September flights were consistently the most expensive.

So if I was set on flying in September I would mentally prepare myself that the tickets (on Delta in Premium Economy) will be a 'Screaming Deal' if I can find them for less than $2500. Especially if I like the connections, etc.

Play around with your dates on Google Flights (for research, but of course book with the airline) if you have that flexibility and you might save a few hundred dollars.

Good luck and enjoy your trip!

We are flying from Seattle to Venice in April and return from Rome in May. We booked using Google Flights and were amazed at the pricing in late December - $1650 total RT for both of us on Air France/Delta.

I've already booked my flight for my northern Italy trip in late September/October. Canadians don't have the array of choice for multi-city trips that those flying from the USA have, unless you have a flight with a stop. Also, I decided to splurge and not fly economy for the long overnight flight. There are very few premium economy seats so I wasn't going to wait.

As a very well seasoned traveler, and my wife even more so having been a traveler since she was a toddler with her parents, we’d never get as close four months out before a trip to book flights. In this day and age, he pi’s shall start to use around 4 months out, 5-6 months prior is a good time to buy.

I rarely book more than 4 months out.

In 2025 I took 2 flights:

I booked on Feb 22, 2025 for a trip to UK and Ireland in early May 2025. The price went down $190 about 2 weeks after I booked. I rebooked to get a credit but the credit has a ”fly by” date of Feb 22, 2026. The credit is only good on a new paid flight (e.g., I couldn’t use towards the taxes on a flight booked with points).

In June, I booked a flight using points for a late Oct trip to Tokyo. I booked using points for the ease of cancellation and because I wanted to fly business on the outbound leg. The points required dropped substantially for a couple of days in Sept (e.g., business class one-way dropped from 250K to 100K). I canceled and rebooked to get the ticket with fewer points. I monitored the points required everyday after I bought the ticket. One-way business on my date of travel was as high as 450K points and as low as 100K points. Most days it was 250K points.

Know the change policies of your ticket. If the price drops and you get a credit, it will have some restrictions. Keep monitoring the price/points after you buy.

I also like to fly Delta comfort plus on international trips. And as others have said, I usually look at tickets way in advance to get a sense for price. Then pull the trigger when I am happy with price and seat availability.

I bought in January tickets for my September trip because I could not beat the price. Not sure if it was a fluke but got a great deal on my return flight thru KLM and direct to SFO instead of US connection, all on Delta website. I have a multi-city itinerary but all in same ticket.

One thing if buy in advance is to keep an eye on plane or flight changes, as Delta doesnt notify you.

For trips across the pond, we book Delta Premium Select and prefer a bulkhead seat. Last year for a trip to Greece and out of Italy, we were in limbo for a while and did not book until June for a September / October trip; that was little closer to time than I would have preferred but it could not be helped. However, while I was tracking the prices via google flights, the price I paid 3 months out was not significantly different that if I had purchased them 6 months out.
We are currently considering a fall 2026 trip, and I have google flight alerts set up. In looking at google flights, the days of travel impact the price of the tickets for 2 by roughly 2K. While we do have our preferences for seats if we do go, we may not be able to get the seats we prefer - we will have to see.
After purchasing our tickets, I have paid to upgrade to Delta One for the trip over. I have a price in mind and when I see it, I purchase. We tend to not bother to pay for an upgrade for the return flight. Premium Select seats and service are comfortable enough for us when trying to get a nap is not that important.

I’m very picky about where I sit and have definite preferences about connections.

I booked my September flights RT PHX-VCE a couple weeks after the dates opened, so 10 month prior. Grabbed a good price in Delta Comfort Extra. I looked yesterday to see what prices now are — $1000 more than I paid.
Last year United ticket price PHX-LHR, DUB-PHX went down $600 so United refunded the difference. Booked tickets nine months prior and price change was five months prior.
Only problem with booking early, something about your flights will change, sometimes multiple times, so you just have to keep checking.

Google Flights is a good resource for researching price history.
I'm interested in business class on British Airways.
I usually buy about nine months out. I track the prices for about 2-3 months, and if there's been no sale or other indication of price reductions, just book it. I do find that Tuesdays and Wednesday's are a little cheaper.
My current April business class flight from the West Coast was booked last fall, and the prices have only gone up. I do have a British Airways credit card and at least get the 10% discount. So sad that the AARP discount has been terminated.
I really don't feel like I'm actually going until I have airline tickets. Then I can book hotels, and get excited!

Just a note that I expect flight prices to increase with the Middle East conflict and increased price of oil.
If you see a good price, I would book it now.