best airfares

I don't. Based on prior experience I set a price that is acceptable and if I can find it, I buy it. Sometimes I have to go higher and I do. I see a lot of postings on this site and others when someone is fessing about the airfare. It is like buying stock. If is rare if not impossible buy a the bottom and you can spend a lot of time trying save a $100 on airfare when it is far easier to save that $100 somewhere else in your travel plans. The difference between a $1200 ticket and a $1400 may appear to be significant but in the total trip it is fairly insignificant. People like to brag about their $500 ticket to London but you don't about the special circumstances that allow them to purchase it at that price. Use comparefare.com or similar sites to get a feel for the average price for that flight at that time. Don't expect a January fare in July.. Be realistic in your expectations. This is an area where history does not predict the future. Buy it and don't look back because you just might see a cheaper fare and then you are unhappy. Of course, the other side is if the fare is constantly going up, then you will be very happy. Good luck.

Frank hit it right on the head with his response! Take his advice and don't look back.

I spend a fair amount of time trying a variety of dates, using ff miles, and traveling off season, and in and out of different airports....however, when I am tired of playing that game and need to make plans I just get the ticket...and I never look back either. Waste of time and just setting myself up to feel bad.

Agreed that you need to set a budget and if you find something within a $200, just got ahead and buy it. Don't look back. I did this for a Paris trip (looked back and saw a slightly cheaper flight), and was upset for days before had to talk myself out of it. I also set one other guideline for myself: direct or one-stop is the max. I could get a $800 ticket with three stops, or $1000 for a one-stop or direct flight. I will spend the extra $200 for that. Others could care less. Set your budget and priorities and then buy when you find a fare. Use Kayak.com or similar site to compare flights and prices.
I should confess that I find flights on Tuesdays through Thursdays much cheaper, so that's one "game" that I will play and travel on those days. It works for me since fortunately my work allows for that kind of flexibility. I realize that not all are that fortunate. Good luck!

This conversation really belongs in the transportation helpline. There you will find a current lengthy discussion on this topic (under Texas to Europe for 1500...).

Good advice about setting a price and living with it. Remember, the airlines - not the travel sites - set the prices and the travel sites have no "discounted fares" regardless of what Captain Kirk says. They do offer some multiple airline flights that an airlines site doesn't, but the savings is usually minimal and may include more stops than you would like.

Agree with previous posters. For an April 2012 trip open jaw SF, London,Lisbon,SF we started looking in August using orbitz and a couple of airline sites. We have a preferred airline and they or their alliance partners are usually the lowest. The price was around $1200 so we continued looking and a couple of weeks ago the price dropped by more than $300 so we booked it. It may go down more or it may go up. It could stay the same for weeks and maybe we didn't have to rush. But we were happy with the price and can now concentrate on our itinerary. Will this happen for different dates or seasons? Who knows. But we do as others have said. When we see a price we're willing to pay we book and don't look back.

"...Remember, the airlines - not the travel sites - set the prices and the travel sites have no "discounted fares" regardless of what Captain Kirk says..." Not always the case. Sites like Expedia do purchase blocks of seats on certain flights; so consolidator type fares are possible. I have won bids for domestic flights on priceline the were cheaper than what was advertised on the airlines own site. I've never tried it for transatlantic flights.

Besides signing up for fares.com, kayak.com and sim. to know what fares are like .You must spend many laborous hours on consolidator websites as expedia, orbitz etc. For some of my trips I prob logged 20-30 hrs on the web and still could not be assured that it was the lowest price. So now that international fares are expensive with the xtra fees, airline surcharges etc. I set a total fare in my mind and either buy it or skip it in a timeframe that is reasonable. Watching airfares swing from 200-300 dollars or more at a time is nerve racking and a waste of time.

One thing to remember if you are holding out for the last-minute deal to save another $100 per ticket is that the longer you wait, the greater the chance that the only available seats will be those dreaded ones in the middle of the middle aisle in coach. Even then, you may end up paying more than if you had acted earlier.

thanks a lot everyone. unfortunately, economic constraints will prevent us from enjoying any overseas travel. I DO appreciate your kind help!
Rog

I signed up for an airline's credit card, got a whole bunch of free miles with it, then used the card exclusively. About every 3rd trip I fly on Frequent Flyer miles and pay only the taxes on that ticket.

Honestly ... I spent ALOT of time on it. I am only able to fly out of Toronto, but was willing to fly into pretty much anywhere in France, Germany, Switzerland, BeNeLux, and London. I found every airline that flys to those places and check the price of every trip (I also had fixed dates, which made this easier). It was alot of work, but I got a flight into London and out of Amsterdam for $800, which I was happy with. I also have alot of spare time in front of a computer though ... I think you could do this fairly quick and easily if you had fixed start and end points.