Booking flights well in advance to London.

I would buy ASAP. Case in point: We planned a London trip for early July (I know, but my wife is a public school teacher, and we are stuck with high season for a few more years). I had already seen prices rising for my son's semester abroad in St. Petersburg, where his best option had been via London, and the price blew up on us just as he got his formal acceptance.
We found Virgin-Atlantic Newark->LHR->Philadelphia for $1210 in early November, and grabbed it. BA(/AA) wanted much more, as did USAir, which is funny since this return flight is a codeshare on the same USAir that would have been over $1400. Anyway, I was curious the other night, and found this same flight is now $1335. As for seating, only you know your personal tastes and needs for seat requirements, which will dictate if you pay the premium for choice.

Are you looking at flying British Airways or American Airlines? They are the same price (a little over $1000) on the BA website, and about the same on the AA website. But be aware that BA makes you pay for seat selection ($30 in economy), unless you wait and do it at check-in 24 hours in advance of the flight. Since almost everyone does that, there is no real advantage in seat selection by booking this early on BA. But there probably is on AA (not sure as I've never flown AA to europe).

I've been watching prices for May from Kansas City to London (several flights connect in Chicago) and 2 weeks ago I saw prices around $850. Sadly I didn't jump on it as my husband had not secured the time off from work at that point. I would wait a little while. You have plenty of time and prices have been hovering around $1000 to $1050 for months. Once in a while the price s. Just check often. I think if I find it for under $900 I'll go for it. From all of my watching, I am confident that prices will at least a little. And if they don't then I doubt I'll pay much more than what prices are now. Just my method though. You have to do what you are comfortable with.

Pick a number you're comfortable with (such as $1,300) and when you see that price, buy it. Last March I paid $1,300 for my September 2012 trip (STL - CDG and LHR - STL). It was more than I wanted to pay but there were extenuating circumstances. I looked at tickets after I bought mine, just out of curiosity, and they ped about 2 months out! I was annoyed. But I also don't feel comfortable waiting until 2 months before my planned departure to buy tickets. It's all about your comfort level.

I would wait just a little while longer. I've just returned from a 2 week London visit and I booked and paid for my trip in July and got the best possible price. Back then I was quoted $850 return from Phoenix to London, so I grabbed it. later on the prices got higher and higher. Of course there is nothing worse than grabbing what you think is the best price, and then a month later seeing the cheaper fares come out. Others have commented on the seating issue, but I agree. With BA you will definitely pay at least an extra $50 for the honor of choosing your seat in advance, and although I flew BA when I did the online check in 24hrs prior to departure I was able to pick my seat and get the one I wanted anyway, so there is that option as well. :) I definitely wouldn't wait until 6 weeks before departure to book. Consider waiting until at least the end of March, beginning of April and I think you could strike it lucky. Of course it doesn't hurt to keep checking from time to time and that way if you see a deal you just can't resist then you can take it. Be patient though and you will get the best deal. :) Good luck and happy travels.

Are you looking at flying British Airways? If you sign up for their Chase credit card, you will get a coupon code for 10% off any flight in 2013 booked on the website using the card. You also get 50,000 points plus another 50,000 if you meet certain spending requirements. That is enough for a business claa trip ( with some $ required too) or an economy flight if you prefer. And the card has a chip, and no foreign transaction fees. Those benefits pretty much offset the $95 annual fee for the card.

Thanks to all for ideas on air travel to London. I won't wait until "six weeks out" as hotels and seat availability are prime concerns. We will wait until a good price comes up and grab it and not look back. Happy Trails... to all.

Paul, Last October, we flew from LAX to CDG, then JRO and back. I got antsy and bought tixs in April. It was to soon. I was curious and started tracking fares twice week for 3 routes. For domestic airlines, the sweet spot, when fares were cheapest waa about 8 weeks out and only for 2 weeks. For AIR FRANCE, the sweet spot was 4 months out and only for about 10 days. It was a 20% swing in price. I called AIR FRANCE, and they said tour operators have to release held seats then, thus the drop in price. If interested in my spreadsheet, send me a PM. Cheers.

I'm going to London in July and bought the tickets today. They were $1,025 r/t from Boston, which was $125 cheaper than 2 weeks ago. They are on Icelandair and we are laying over in Iceland for 2 days (no charge per airline) before going on to London.