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Waiting too long to buy flight?

Hi all,

Quick question. My wife and I have a one-way flight from New York to London on June 17th. As of now, my wife needs to be back to work on July 7th. However, she MIGHT be able to get an extra (2-4 days off). She will potentially know June 10ish (+ - five days). Would it be ill-advised to wait until June to purchase our return flight? Or should we just play it safe and book now? Basically my question is, should we expect much higher airfare prices come June? Or will we still be able to find reasonable prices roughly 4 weeks before the flight?

Posted by
506 posts

You almost need a crystal ball for that question. I would think that June through August is such a high season that the prices are only going up.

Posted by
8375 posts

Alex, it has been interesting to follow your trip planning since you first bought your one way last December. If I remember right, you were able to get an incredible price for your flight over.

I think you are going to want to decide prior to June 10th on the tickets or all your great savings for the trip over will disappear on what you pay on the way back..... June 17th to July 7th is still a great trip. Could you be satisfied with returning that day either way? The reason I ask is that you have already spent quite a long time worrying about this return air trip and I think that the gain from maybe having a few more days might be offset by the uncertainty that it causes. Only you can make that call.

Posted by
3098 posts

Looking at the way prices vary day by day on Iceland Air and Norwegian Air (they vary depending on July 6,7,8,9 etc.) I am thinking the prices go up as the planes fill up. Thus the tickets will likely be more expensive if you wait until June. If one day's plane isn't filling up they could possibly reduce the fare, but that may not be on the day you want. You are tied to a specific date to fly--either July 6 ( assuming she will go to work the next day) or a date 2-4 days later, depending how much extra time she gets.

If you wait to book and the flights cost more, that isn't your only expense. If she does get 3-4 extra days, you'll have more expenses in travel, meals and hotels for those days, so the total extra cost could $1000 or so. Are you comfortable with that?

Right now prices for July 6 are $633 on Iceland Air and $705 on Norwegian (and $639 on July 7 with them, but that date won't work.)

If it was me I would book that now for peace of mind, and build credit with my job/boss/co-workers by not taking the extra time off. June 17 to July 6 is almost three weeks, a very nice trip (we always go for only two).

Posted by
15165 posts

NY to London is probably one of the most competitive international air routes in the world. I don't think prices will change dramatically either way (up or down) whether you purchase now or in mid June.

Posted by
30 posts

We appreciate all of the advice! We ended up booking our returning flight last night. June 17th - July 6th it is. Super excited! :)