We have one ticket using FF miles for Sept. 25 from Burlington, VT to Birmingham, UK. The fare is listed as $1,125 and we need to buy another ticket. We don't have to fly the same flights but that'd be more enjoyable. Should I go ahead and buy now while there are lots of seats or dare to wait a while (how long?) before buying the other ticket? thanks for suggestions. This is on United.
Posted by
Washington DC Region, USA
7053 posts
This is a highly personal decision depending how risk averse you are...I would personally hold out for a better fare, especially since you are going off-peak in September and it's only March right now. Use itasoftware.com to track tickets one month out and you'll get a sense of what the ranges of fares is, and how to pick your target fare.
Posted by
2081 posts
Hi, when i went to eruope last march, it was about 1k R/T from PDX to AMS. I was checking fairs as early as Mar the previous year. The fairs were about 1k all up to 3 months before i left and then they went up. Im going back in Sept and have been monitoring prices since that last trip in Mar. so far, its 200~300 more for the same trip and im about to buy the tickets now since ive purchased other tickets for my trip and dont want to miss anything or connections. im not sure how flights are from your city and if there are any other flights, but for now im using my 1k as a baseline. fwiw, a co worker took the same flight last month and paid 800 r/t but i think it was due to the winter time and less expensive then. happy trails.
Posted by
OP
Jericho, Vermont, USA
143 posts
Thank you both for your input. I decided to go ahead and get the ticket so my husband and I can fly on the same flight. The cost was brought significantly down because I used American Express points we'd accumulated. I decided that the worry and time it would take to keep checking prices was not worth the extra $200 I may have saved (I doubt fares would have gone down more than that.) Anyway, it's crapshoot as they say. Thanks again. Julia