How far in advance to purchase plane tickets?

dianaeureka4,

I have a better feeling for flight cost from my neck of the woods.

If it was me, i would wait a month and monitor daily and see how the prices fluctuate. Skyscanner has a page where you can look at the prices for the month and it may give you an idea on what days to look for better prices. However, if you have already done your homework -good for you - and if you feel from your observations that it isnt going to get any better, go for it.

i book my flights as soon as i get an idea on where im going.

happy trails.

Diana,

I bet you are excited about the trip. I cannot say if you have found a good deal. Someone else needs to answer that one.

Check the thread Thursday is now the Day to Book at https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/transportation/air-fare-thursday-is-now-the-day-to-book

The poster if I remember correctly said the low prices are occurring on Thursday after months of watching the air fares.

Personally, I feel the farther out from date of departure you book, the cheaper the fares.

My 2-cents worth.

Diane,

There is a lot of competition flying in and out of Milan. I bet you could save $300 - $400 a ticket if you chose to fly into, and out of, Milan. You then have to weigh that against the cost of train travel, from Milan to Venice and from Rome to Milan.

AS another poster pointed out, and it could be true, it may be cheaper to fly on Thursdays. I almost always fly to Europe on a Thursday and home on a Tuesday - Thursday. I swear I always found the cheapest tickets that way. Emirates, leaving on Thursday 7/9 and returning on Monday 7/27, non-stop JFK to Milan and Milan to JFK is $907. Emirates is a great airline. So if you can pad your trip at either end a bit, and be flexible with airports you will save money, even when factoring the extra cost of train travel.

Book whenever you feel comfortable. I am looking at flights to Amsterdam for next July and agree Aer Lingus seems to be the best deal. Icelandic was a little cheaper but I read that they nickel and dime you for meals, drinks, etc and I can't be bothered with that nonsense. their ticket is only about $90 cheaper so it is not worth the hassle. I have a deposit down on a cruise, have made hotel reservations for before and after the cruise, so will be booking our flights within the month. I feel that when I get the necessary reservations done (flights, ship, hotel) I can better budget my costs, then concentrate on researching the cities we will be visiting and reading up on the people, history and culture. For me, planning is part of the fun.

There are about 4 airline partnerships controlling the supply of the seats from the U.S. to Europe. And they're very good at keeping the seat supplies down and the high demand (and prices) up in the Summer.

I will watch Matrix ITA for prices weekly this time of the year. I'm getting a "base line" price in my mind. After the first of the year, I'll be watching prices closer and reading online for "special sales", etc.

Mid Summer can be very hot in Italy--and crowded with tourists. I usually go the last of March--after the Winter weather's broken in Europe and when flights and rooms are less expensive. Italian hotel a/c is just not that good to risk going in Summer.

ClarkHoward.com and the Atlanta newspaper mentioned a one day sale last January, and I bought airline tickets into Budapest and out of Prague @ $728. Earlier in the year, short sales will pop up if you watch closely.

I think 1300 round trip to Italy in the summer is pretty good. I don't think it would get much cheaper. But I also don't think it would get much more expensive if you wanted to watch price fluctuations for a bit, as someone else suggested. If they go up, don't panic. I am sure they will go down again since you are so far out from the trip.

Well now don't do what I do, but I have booked twice already with Aer Lingus for end of August and for the end of September 2014 just two weeks before flight time.

Cost from US was $ 818 one way to Rome. Cost from Rome is also 818 but in Euro, making the cost $1,101. In the US I called to book and they never said anything to me about paying for seats and meals, and I still got my seats and food.

In Italy I used my iphone 5 to book and when i chose my seats I had to pay according to size and space. And then this pre-order meal deal showed so I bought an Irish Breakfast and Salmone for supper. You have to print out the voucher and carry it onboard to get the food you ordered. My B and B /Hotel printed it for me.

$1330 sounds pretty good to me for Italy in high season and open jaw. This last summer tickets to Italy were going around 1500 or 1600. I typically wait until Dec/January to purchase my summer air but it can be a risk. Since your dates are more or less set and since you are on a tour I would book sooner than later. meaning you will not decide to travel in March or October to save money on air. I also check skyscanner, then the real site for the airline and kayak. I also care about time in the air, number of changes, etc. So sometimes a little more money is worth it.

I checked airfares daily for a month and Thursday was no cheaper for buying tickets than any other day. Traveling on Thursday was a couple of hundred dollars less, however.

I buy the ticket as soon as possible, usually 5-8 months out, and wait for the "flight change" emails to start rolling in.