Airfare - what is a good price?

For May 2016, $1150 is a pretty good price these days. The problem seems to have been flight cancellations and wacky schedule changes lately. If you can do it with just one change, that would be good. If you can fly Cincinnati to Europe before changing planes, that is even better.
Edit- Right now I'm seeing $1208 in May for 2 weeks or so starting with a direct flight to Paris changing to a flight to Prague on Delta, return through JFK, on Delta. Does require you to switch to LGA for return to CVG, but should be plenty of time.

Yes, you should wait - you have plenty of time to buy a ticket. Give yourself many months to track fares although it may be too early to really get a feel for May of next year (not sure if airlines have their schedules loaded into the system already that far in advance). Fares somewhere between $700-900 are very good, around $1,000 is pretty good, $1,200 is just ok, and anything over that is too high from the East Coast...just my opinion (others may differ). I travel off-season and am very flexible with dates (and airlines like Turkish Air, etc), so I've paid on the low end of the scale. The caveat is where you're flying from and to - if it's a competitive market, you should be able to get a competitive fare. I don't know how competitive Dayton or Cincinnati are in terms of international flights.

The East coast girls are hip, I really dig those styles they wear.
And they get way better prices on flights to Europe.
Out here where the Midwest farmer's daughters really make you feel alright,
We have to pay a little more.

I closely watch the travel sections in many newspapers for evidence of a European flight sale. I also watch ClarkHoward.com's travel bargain section for budget airfares. MatrixITASoftware.com is where I watch airfares every couple of weeks--getting a feel for what's the going rate. I've also been known to look directly on NorwegianAirShuttle, Icelandic Air, Turkish Air and AerLingus looking for alternative European gateway cities to fly through that may be less expensive. I've also been known to fly out on the last day of March to get a Winter airfare--since Spring airfares usually starting April 1st are higher.
I'd be looking to buy around February or the first of March for May trips. But if you see a sudden drop in airfares before then, go for it.
We're flying into Copenhagen and home from Bergen for $757 in 10 days.

I have flown from Indy and Cleveland and from there I aim for $1200 or lower. I assume Cincy is the same. I have also used Columbus. Same.

Sometimes I am in NYC, Chicago, or Toronto for work before a trip, and I aim for under $1000 from those cities. Toronto is especially good, under 900 is common. This is for spring/summer. Winter is cheaper.

You don't have to buy yet, but if you want to $1150 is good. If it's $1400 Id wai t.

Does anyone have a suggestion about a good travel agency that is willing to research and purchase airline tickets for you? Personally, I'm willing to pay someone else a fee to be my representative to make sure that all of the best alternatives have been considered. When I do it myself I just never know if I did enough research? Anyone else feel that way?

@sders50 - I'll be your travel agent - LOL :-) In all seriousness, travel agents for airlines have gone the way of the dodo bird because they have access to the same info (the airline reservation systems on the internet) as any other person. Only you know what your priorities are, what your budget is, and what trade-offs you're willing to make more than anyone else. In that sense, you are your best representative whereas the travel agent takes a cut. Continual practice securing your own tickets will make you a better purchaser over time (there are diminishing returns to doing more research after a certain point, so no need to sweat over it). I enjoy buying my own tickets and tracking airfare - there are great tools out there to make this easy.

For many years I have always bought our spring to fall vacation tickets to Europe around the 3rd to 4th week of January and feel like I have always gotten the best price. I also keep reading that right now August is also a good time. The holidays will be a little higher because a lot of people spend the holidays in France and Italy. Just make sure that you buy a ticket either directly from the airline, or insurance or something that will insure the best possible recovery if something goes wrong. The airlines have been terrible about cancellations and then other unexpected situations. I personally will only buy from the airlines directly and not on a third party site. I think $11150.00 is great for what I have paid the last couple years. If you don't want to spend that money now, I think in January you will at least get that price.

As an IND flyer, I can tell you that's a good price. You won't do better out of Cincinnati, but may be able to save a little out of Chicago, but would need to add in the cost of getting up there and the anxiety of getting all the way out to O'Hare--not to mention the chaos on I-65.

We gave up on travel agents, even the ones preferred by our workplace, when my husband was given a convoluted itinerary when an easy, straight forward one existed.

I feel like $1150 is a decent price but it's so hard to tell when the best time to buy is. I personally like to wait until late. I've been watching flights from Boston to both Nice and Milan for months for the end of Sept. They were anywhere from $750- $800 on Turkish Air to much more on other carriers. Since I prefer to pay a little more not to go way out of my way for a long layover so I dismissed Turkish. My preferred airline is Delta/AirFrance but will fly others if the price and time is right. Aer Lingus was running around $900, Delta/AirFrance was $1006 for much less layover time. This past Friday morning I finally decided I better just buy since seats were limited. Went on Kayak and the Delta/AirFrance flight dropped overnight to $895, Bos to Nice through Paris with a 1 hr layover, Paris to Boston non stop coming home. Done deal.
Last year I bought at the end of July for the end of Sept for Bos-Paris, Paris-Boston. $1195, non stop both ways. I could have gotten on Aer Lingus for $100 less but decided to do the non stop.
Funny thing is I bought my parents tickets last, year, bought the same day as mine, but for different travel days, theirs were weekend, mine were Monday- the following Thursday, both Air France, we overlapped dates in Paris,. Boston to Paris, Paris to Cyprus, Cyprus to Boston through Paris, for $1495. So for only $200 more they flew round trip CDG to Cyprus, non stop.
I use kayak to compare but buy from the carriers website.

Yes, buy on the carriers website. Kayak is great for comparisons, and when you select a flight it usually takes you to the carrier to book. If not, go to the carrier website yourself and book there.

I usually buy 4-6 months out, but I am considering buying now for May because I'm seeing good fares. Set a mental budget, spend less than it, and don't worry if it drops a bit. At $1100-$1200 from IND in spring/summer, you're not going to see a ton lower. Maybe a little but you just can't worry about every small fluctuation. Don't buy too late - prices go up and you can get stuck with a bad seat - if it's like a month out.

Just remember that when someone who flies out of East Coast airports gives you what they think is a good fare, you have to add $200-300 to that from the Midwest or West Coast to determine a good fare. Those guys out east don't know how good they have it when it comes to flying to Europe - shorter flights, fewer changes, lower fares.

Thank you all. Very helpful for this Midwest farmer's granddaughter :-)

Thank you, Agnes. Good advice!