question about flight bookings

[HMSDingy]

Just a general question but how long do most of you book their outgoing flight for a cruise? Our cruise is leaving San Pedro on February 21st and we want to fly in 2 days earlier. I'm worried that if I lock in a booking too early I might miss out on seat sales.

[Mommypig]

I am generally more concerned about not being able to get a flight. Isn't the 21st of February near Presidents Day? As in Winter break for some areas? So I purchased tickets for our February cruise out of Miami in August.

 

 

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[CruiserBruce]

Some reading on the Cruise Air board would reveal the cheapest fares are already gone for your San Diego flights.

[paul929207]

I book ours about 6 to 8 months in advance

[HMSDingy]

Some reading on the Cruise Air board would reveal the cheapest fares are already gone for your San Diego flights.

 

Its San Pedro not San Diego and we would rather pay full fare to get a non stop flight. The flight from Montreal is 6 hours; we don't want it to last any more.

[HMSDingy]

I am generally more concerned about not being able to get a flight. Isn't the 21st of February near Presidents Day? As in Winter break for some areas? So I purchased tickets for our February cruise out of Miami in August.

 

 

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I really wouldn't know when is President's Day as I am Canadian but I should google search your holidays anyway. Isn't the winter break in March?

[Mommypig]

Different areas do school breaks differently. Some do two breaks, one in April and one in February. Others have just one in March. But Presidents weekend is in February and most schools have the long weekend off.

 

 

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[Steviewonder1]

And if you are using Miles to book the ticket, the earlier the better cause all of the seats are not miles seats unless you have one of those other credit cards. We always book as early as we can and getting into town a day or two early is a very good idea. Two days early for Quebec City and a day early for Barcelona. Two days early for west coast US also. Not worried about missing the ship, just want to see the really nice ports of call we will be leaving from.

[TWA4Ever]

I'm worried that if I lock in a booking too early I might miss out on seat sales.

 

I am confused. In the first post, OP stated he was concerned on missing out on seat sales, i.e., money is an important factor. Then OP states, in a later post:

 

Its San Pedro not San Diego and we would rather pay full fare to get a non stop flight. The flight from Montreal is 6 hours; we don't want it to last any more.

 

When I used to fly for business (which was quite a lot), and I always flew YUP (full-fare coach which was upgraded), I don't recall a "seat sale" on full-fare tickets (if you think the airlines overcharge for the "cheapest" ticket, you should price out full fare!).

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

President's day is the THIRD Monday in February always. We usually book flights when we make final payment.

[Corfe Mixture]

Cruising over Christmas and New Year, we have found that the return journey to the UK tends to coincide with people travelling back to the UK before schools re-open.

 

As a result, our experience has been that, as the aircraft fill up, prices for this period start to go up quite quickly, and flights at this time rarely feature in any 'BA Worldwide Sale' and certainly the availability of 'frequent flyer' upgrades decreases rather than increases as time goes on.

 

Given we also like to spend some time enjoying the US as well as our cruise, flying in a few days early gives us additional flexibility in date of travel and allows us to adjust our travel dates to take the opportunity to choose a flight which has availability for frequent flyer upgrade.

 

The bottom line for us is that we definitely feel we get the best deals by booking early, even though we do have to make full payment up front. Booking early also allows us to have first choice of seats, except exit seats, which means we always get decent seats, which on 8-10 hour flights is quite important to us.

 

We already have a cruise booked for Christmas 2015 and I will probably book our flights out to SFO or LAX (cruise starts from LA) and back from MIA in February as soon as the homebound flights open for bookings.

Edited October 23, 2014 by Corfe Mixture

[cherylandtk]

Just a general question but how long do most of you book their outgoing flight for a cruise? Our cruise is leaving San Pedro on February 21st and we want to fly in 2 days earlier. I'm worried that if I lock in a booking too early I might miss out on seat sales.

Have you looked at any of the price predictor websites yet? These help you to look at historic prices and price trends for your chosen routing.

http://techpp.com/2014/05/05/airfare-price-predictor/

[Pam in CA]

February 21st is the start of February vacation/President's Day in the US. There won't be any airfare sales. Heck, if you delay booking your flight, there may not be any seats at all or prices will skyrocket.

 

Ft. Lauderdale is a major vacation destination that week and there are just so many flights/seats available. If you wait a month or two to book your flights, you may find yourself paying double the current fare. As seats get sold, prices go up, not down.

 

Bottom line, book your air ASAP. Same for hotels. Don't delay.

Edited October 23, 2014 by Pam in CA

[Cruisin' Chick]

Just a general question but how long do most of you book their outgoing flight for a cruise? Our cruise is leaving San Pedro on February 21st and we want to fly in 2 days earlier. I'm worried that if I lock in a booking too early I might miss out on seat sales.

 

 

Just going by the LA Unified school district and local colleges: Presidents Day is basically a Monday holiday so many people and families taking a trip would just go for the weekend (workers may take off a few days around it).

 

College spring break time generally start maybe the last week of February going through to late March. Fortunately not all colleges take the same week off. (Just about all the elementary and secondary schools around here take off either the week leading up to Easter -- the LAUSD always does this even when I was a little one -- or the week following Easter -- usually some religious schools)

 

Definitely consider booking early just in case many people decide to take their vacation at this time (even though around here, it's not to get out of the snow; our winter weather can be rainy and in the 50s or 60s or we could have a dry winter, which we certainly don't need this year whilst in a drought situation). Go in at least a day ahead of your cruise, and don't book your return flight for earlier than noon if leaving on your embarkation day.

[searoses]

Public school in several northeast states have the week off....logan airport is a zoo around that time!