Timing for Booking

[RMVET]

We are flying into Heathrow in January and then traveling to Southampton to pick up our ship. Would we get a better fare booking our air transportation early, like now, or watching for specials or sales?

[Globaliser]

The early bird gets no special favours in this industry. The best time to buy is always when it's cheap, and it's usually cheaper to buy during a sale.

 

However, you have to get a feel for what the usual fares are so that you know when there is a genuine price reduction for your travel dates. In any sale, not all travel dates will necessarily be included, and not all flights will necessarily have availability for the sale fares. So there is some risk involved in waiting - and it is impossible to give definitive predictions about what will happen in the future.

[Bowie MeMe]

Start watching now and see what the pricing is going for. Gather information on what is a reality price and what you get for that price (time of travel, one stop or two or nonstop, arrival time and class of service)/ Then if you see a price that is "good" buy. You can wait too long and price goes up but if you buy without your research then you might pay too much. In all cases be real -- if the price is too good to be true -- it might also give you too much trouble (could be an unreliable 3rd party seller or points manipulation).

 

Do yourself a favor and read through some of the posts by the frequent posters on the cruise air threads -- they have a world of experience and expertise that they share --especially read the stickies at the top. These experts strongly advise that you in most cases buy directly from the provider of the service. A 3rd party seller often brings grief -- not a lower price -- and sometimes it is a devil of a job to get any problem solved (itinerary change/time change/even day and airport change etc provider's changes not yours). Good luck and happy booking.

Edited August 29, 2015 by Bowie MeMe

[Bowie MeMe]

PS -- I have my air for July 2016 in hand and paid for to get me to my Rotterdam cruise. I do not have air for a family trip in October 2015 but for the wedding in Nov. 2015 have had it for 6 months. Each trip the timing is unique to the circumstances. For London lots of flights and lots of airlines so probably more choices of timing also.

 

For winter travel, I think it is even more important to leave a day or so before cruise leaves as a minimum! This winter is predicted to be much above average for snowfall in Northeast US (2015-2016) which impacts ALL flights -- interconnected world if airplanes can't come and go then the next flight which does not even seem to be connected is delayed or cancelled. Winter! Ugh. Sometimes hard to escape it!