How long to wait to book airline

[hbrote]

Hello to all and maybe some could help with my booking of airlines for my upcoming cruise in May 2013. I haven't as of yet purchased our tickets and wonder how long I should wait. Any suggestions ?

[Keith1010]

As soon as you find a fare you are pleased with I would book.

 

Keith

[CruiserBruce]

There is no golden rule. Nobody know what airfares will do.

 

I would watch the fares, checking them very regularly, making notes. Figure out what the trends might be. May select a possible trip a month before, and a month after your dates, just to see the trends.

 

Then, as Keith said, buy when you are happy with the fare.

[hbrote]

Thanks for the quick replies folks...... My main problem is not really knowing what a good airfare would be. I guess I will keep KAYKing....

[softail]

Thanks for the quick replies folks...... My main problem is not really knowing what a good airfare would be. I guess I will keep KAYKing....

 

This is a good time to book. May thru Sept are not that cheap of a time to fly to Europe. Looks like you are flying to Venice and returning from Barcelona? From Seattle a fare of under $1000.00 would be great. Not sure from Georgia but id go on Expedia and plug it in and see what you get.

[pcvtmom]

For us, we wanted nonstop from Philadelphia. We were limited to 2 flights, so I kept checking how many seats were left. When it got down to 20, I figured I'd better book. Sure enough, friends who tried to book the next week found the price up by over $100.

[redjoan]

Be SURE to check with choice air!!! They have some negotiated rates that are GREAT! Worth checking!

[CruiserBruce]

For us, we wanted nonstop from Philadelphia. We were limited to 2 flights, so I kept checking how many seats were left. When it got down to 20, I figured I'd better book. Sure enough, friends who tried to book the next week found the price up by over $100.

 

If you were using the "available seats" feature on an airline site, just be aware that isn't anywhere near an accurate indicator of how many seats are actually unsold.

[pcvtmom]

Thanks. I didn't know that. I just wanted to make sure we got seats on that flight before it went up drastically or sold out. All in all, I was satisfied with what I paid. Our friends who tried to get that flight are actually now paying more for a one stop out of Philly than we did for our nonstop. (The flights are leaving within minutes of each other.)

[hbrote]

Thanks to all for the help. I have booked our flights now and are now just waiting to go. One think I did check was the seat available on Expedia against the Airlines selection page. I found them to be the same while I selected my seats. I checked on Expedia after and they in fact reflected my seat selections. The seat selections were a major reason for booking the trip now, as I didn't want to be stuck in a middle seat. Perhaps some of these seats indicated as occupied are still in the hands of travel agents, I have no idea about that.