Airline Tickets

This is a question where people have different personal preferences.

I prefer not to buy my tickets so far in advance, in part because I can't always commit to a trip that early. But many people buy their tickets 6+ months in advance.

I'd choose your travel cities (open jaw or round trip?) and set fare alerts with Google Flights or your favorite travel site and get email notifications whenever there's a fare drop so you can buy tickets at that time. You probably already know your "ideal flights" - best connections from your cities to destinations, etc. If not, figure them out - which tickets you'd buy if all were the same price today, then try to get the best deal on those.

I start looking at least 6 months in advance ... Start with google flights. you can click the Flexible Dates feature and you get a calendar page with all prices for each day (after you've entered departure and arrival cities). You can play around with the cities, depending on what works best for you, and see what the best price options are...

The best time to buy airfare is when it is cheapest. Unfortunately, just like a stock, you only know the lowest price when you've missed it, and the price has gone back up again. The airlines use computers to adjust fares multiple times a day, so you simply can't predict anything. And beware of dubious advice such as "buy 73 days before travel for best fares" - several have posted here that they lost several hundred dollars by following things like this.

However, it's never too early to start looking. Use Kayak or Google Flights to see what the options are. Look at airfares, but also routes, connection airports, connection times, number of changes, airlines, etc. Figure out now how much you will be willing to sacrifice to save money. For instance, will you accept a 10 hour layover to save $100? How about $500? There are no right or wrong answers, but you should decide what is and is not important for you.

Depending on where you live, you may more or fewer choices of routes, airlines, or airports. You should also decide where in Germany you want to fly in and out of. Look carefully at "open jaw" tickets - into one city and out of another. Even if these cost more, then save time and money since you don't have to backtrack. To find these flights (say, Chicago to Berlin and Munich to Chicago) use the "multi city" or "multiple destinations" option on booking websites. Once you know who flies the routes you are interested in, look directly at the airline websites as well - sometimes they're even cheaper than what shows on Kayak.

By looking now, you'll see what fares and options are. Set up alerts for routes you are interested in (Kayak among others allows this). Then, keep checking, and whenever you check, have your credit card information and passport information of all travelers ready (so you can book without delay). When you see a good deal, you'll know it, and be ready to pounce - a fare can be gone in an hour. Then, since it's non-refundable, don't look back, or you'll make yourself crazy.

Harold's response is about the best answer you will get. Maybe he should sign a release and lets Steve boilerplate it as a standard response to this question.

I would add one comment -- while setting an alert is good idea I have never been successful in scoring a deal with an alert. My experience is that the cheap price is release overnight, I get the alert on my computer at 2am or 3.30am so by the time I log on in the morning the deal is gone. That is frustrating and I swear it is part of the game to encourage you to hang around waiting for the deal to return. It does -- next Thursday at 1.20 AM.

We have found that earlier is better. Set a price you are comfortable with, pull the trigger and don't look back. And accepts all of the boasts from others who claim to have bought a $500 RT ticket to Paris with a big grain of salt.

I wanted to add a word of warning about "who" you buy from vs. "when" you buy. Many of us prefer to buy directly from the airline. The reason for this is that if you need any changes, or weather, equipment, etc. causes the airlines to make changes, you are dealing directly with the airline about your ticket. If you purchase from a 3rd party, you must deal through that 3rd party for any changes.

There are a few reputable 3rd party companies, but there are many more that have such poor customer service or are known for being "scams" that one has to be extremely careful if you decide not to purchase directly from the airlines. Don't use any 3rd party agent without going to the trip advisor air travel forum and doing a search on the company's name. You will probably get a good idea if that is a company you would want to do business with.

All good advice. But, if you have seating preferences think about pouncing on those tickets early. The US economy is good, people are traveling, so flights can and do sell out. It would appear the premium economy ticket has caught on. But the cabins are smaller, the preferred seats go fast.

Here is another thought... look at the prices on google... Look at where you are going and then call a travel agent (ask your friends for recs). I KNOW no one on this forum uses a travel agent, BUT whenever I've gone to Europe I've used an agent for these "open jaw" tickets and I've got great results for a good price and seats assigned immediately. Also had a free upgrade to Business with the Business lounge included.
It depends on where you are going and where you are flying out/in to.
And we spend $50 for the whole thing to have it all done and seats assigned. If any thing goes wrong I have one of the top travel consultant companies in Chicago to go to bat for me.

What city are flying from and where are you flying into? Are you flying home from another city?

Hi - I also, when shopping, take a look at how many seats are still left on the flights I'm watching.

When you see the price you want, buy it, especially, as someone noted, you really want specific travel dates/times and seats.

After you buy, you can keep looking if you want, so that you have the bit of info the next time you're flight searching (when/if they went down), but I stop looking so it doesn't drive me crazy.

Also, if you're are shopping on the airline sights, be sure to clear your history or cookie cache on a regular basis. I usually save Safari browser for flight shopping, so it's easy to clear.

Harold hit it. I have gone to Europe for 14 of the last 16 years and have always booked directly thru the airline I choose after doing all my early research. I check flight prices histories, monitor plane available seating after getting information from SeatGaru, and am ready to buy when I feel the price is right. Booking directly with the airline has saved my bacon three times when things went south with the schedules.

I think the earliest ticket I booked directly with the airline to Europe was 6-7 months prior to departure, always Economy, usually non-stop, from SFO or OAK to either London, Paris CDG or Frankfurt FRA, and round trip. I don't use kayak, priceline, or any of them for European travels. I used to go to a travel agent, the last time doing that was in 2007.

Last Oct for a deal of a price, I flew OAK to Seattle, had a 5 hrs layover, then it was Br Air to London Heathrow....all very nice, only staying in London. The only unexpected surprise was the flight duration from SEA-TAC to Heathrow is shorter than that from SFO...still very satisfactory and a pleasant experience.

For me, no detailed holiday planning can start until the air tickets are booked. That way, we have our start and end points, plus start and end dates. Before this is done, I do my basic research, but only when the flights are locked in can I start looking at the itinerary, booking accommodation, deciding if and when we need a car, etc.

The other reason I start with the flights is because I'm very picky. Price is very important, but not much more important than route, flight times and keeping connections and time in airports to a minimum. For instance, I hate long haul departures late in the day. I won't have slept since the previous night, so board the flight already tired. The thought of a 12hr flight on top of already feeling sleepy fills me with dread, not least because I have never been able to sleep on planes and won't pay for Business Class.

So, once I have tracked down flights that work for us and locked them in (usually booking direct with the airline), the lengthy process of finding accommodation can start. This is an iterative process, where I might for instance begin with a rough itinerary but have to change it if I'm unable to find suitable accommodation. I can thus go round in circles for a couple of weeks or more before I have an acceptable plan - then I lock in all the accommodations.

The next step is to book the car(s), and then with all that secured, I start researching our destinations more thoroughly in order to put together our 'To Do' list, in the course of which I might actually book a couple of things if, for instance, seats for a particular show might be limited.

Being rather anal and too hung up on avoiding the slightest mistake, the whole process takes many weeks. Consequently, I book our flights pretty much as soon as I can. This can be almost a year in advance!

I then try to avoid 'buyer's remorse' when I see our flights or similar flights cheaper than I paid, nearer the date! To be fair though, this rarely happens and, even if it does, the flights are inferior in some way (timing etc). I don't worry about losing interest on deposits, not with rates as low as they are - it's relatively insignificant.

One final point. Doing things this way allows me an irrational pleasure when, by the time we're thinking of packing, everything is paid for and it feels almost like going on a free holiday :-)

I do same as the previous poster. I like to book as early as possible so I can feel free to lock down the rest of my plans. Granted - we have only paid cash for our tickets a few times (usually book with miles), but even when we have paid cash I have bought tickets very early. I've been watching the price for our trip this summer. The price has only gone up. The only time of year I think you might find better last minute type deals is in Feb March timeframe.

When it is a flight to Paris CDG on Air France taking off from SFO anywhere from 1530 to 1600 hrs, non-stop, you can expect the flight to be 11 hrs, likewise to Frankfurt from SFO, except the flight could depart earlier in the afternoon.