Too soon to buy plane tickets?

Another good site to use to check airfares is kayak.com. And there's an interesting one based out of an Edmonton travel agency called flyforless.ca .But yapata.com will only take you to a site someone has "parked." The actual website that'll give you price checks and alerts is yapta.com, Also, check out airports that may be within commuting distance (say, Winnipeg) because you may find a better price from there. Once you uncover the airlines flying your route, sign up for their e-mail airfare alerts.

While "in the past airlines have lowered fares to Europe about 90-120 days before travel, and have seldom varied from that schedule in good times and bad," that is not necessarily true today. Air fares change on a daily basis, and what you saw on yapta.com today may be different from what you saw on other websites yesterday or the day before because the prices have changed. With sophisticated seat management software, airlines will put seats on sale anytime they're "behind the curve"....if they get ahead of the curve (and stay there), seat sales won't be as good, or they won't happen at all. Anecdotally, the best airfares I got for my four last trips to Europe over the past two years were purchased 9, 8, 8, and 6 months beforehand.

So use the sites you're checking now, plus additional ones suggested. Do it rigorously....daily, in fact. Sign up for the alerts. Get a history of prices over the next week or two. Then when you see a good drop, and you're confortable with it, buy it....and ignore the issue from then on out.

Hi, Deborah-
Sounds like a great trip with your son. I posted a few before you- the post called "When to book". I have been searching diligently for airfares, and what I have found is that most of the cheaper fares do NOT have good itineraries. For example, a 50-minute layover before leaving for the transatlantic leg of the trip. Chances are my luggage will never make it from the domestic terminal to the international terminal. And the incoming flight only has an ontime rate of 70%. So, if you do find a great fare, look really closely at all the details such as ontime rates and layover times. You may have to pay a little more for the itinerary you want, but if your luggage arrives when you do, and you don't have to run from flight to flight, it's probably worth it. Have a great trip!

You could ditch the checked bags and just bring carry on.

Hi! I've been on these message boards planning a trip for this coming summer as well--my husband and I are teachers, so we have the same schedule as you and your son. I've booked lodging for a week in Florence and two weeks in Paris, but have not booked transportation as of yet because of the crazy cost...at least right now. I'm HOPING 'at least right now'. I've signed up for almost every update available via email, and continue to get 'last minute sale' alerts--for example, an email alert I received this week informed me that had I wanted to fly to Paris before March 23rd, I could have flown into Florence from NYC for $230--and then out of Paris for a similar amount! I'm HOPING that I will continue to get similar notices as time passes, and as I approach our travel dates, I will actually be able to snag one of these deals. I've done an INSANE amount of research--seriously dozens of hours a week for weeks now--and I'm confident we will get there and NOT pay the prices we are seeing now (or, at the very least, I'm sure it won't go UP!) For example, right now, a one way ticket is $100 MORE THAN a round trip ticket! (and roundtrip tickets are over $1200--we'd like to spend less than $700 and fly open jaw) So, in summation...wait a few months. It is killing me to do so--as we've already rented apartments and secured a dog sitter--but it will be worth saving hundreds of dollars.

BUT--don't wait to book lodging, at least if you are considering alternative options. I found both of our rentals on vrbo.com, and we're spending less than $1,700 to stay in full apartments for three full weeks in two different countries. But the good and cheap ones book quickly. Trust me--I'm the one booking them!

I want to throw a cautionary note in about waiting on fare alerts. I have not had a good experience. Last year we were very flexible and thought I would play the game. Got lots of fare alerts for really cheap tickets. BUT -- they hit my email around two or three AM on a very random bases and were gone by 5/6AM when I would log on and tried to find them. I think the fare alert is a big tease. I don't doubt that the actual fare was available but it was, mostly likely, only one or two tickets on a certain schedule. So when someone tells you to sign up for a fare alert -- do so. But you may have to be very lucky.