How far out to book return flight following a transatlantic?

[jules815]

My DH and I are booked on the April 2024 transatlantic from FLL to Rotterdam. Still haven't decided which country we'll be flying home from, although my husband is leaning toward a few days in Amsterdam followed by a few in Brussels. I'm happy with whatever he decides to do. (I've always taken care of all of our travel plans, but have thrown this leg of the trip at him to do the research and planning.) We have some travel this summer that we want to get thru and then planned on focusing on this next big trip after that. That puts us 6 months out. Is that adequate? 

 

We've done one transatlantic back in 2016, and I'm pretty sure I booked those return flights farther out. 

Edited July 9, 2023 by jules815

[kazu]

I often use points and check pricing to gage.

 

6 months out used to be a good rule of thumb.

 

Airfare has skyrocketed over the past year and from what I have seen, the sooner you book, the less you pay.  that’s just my experience though.

 

Are you planning on using Flight Ease?  If you are, the sooner you book the better as they only have so many seats on each flight and once they are gone, they are gone and your options diminish.

[jules815]

5 minutes ago, kazu said:

I often use points and check pricing to gage.

 

6 months out used to be a good rule of thumb.

 

Airfare has skyrocketed over the past year and from what I have seen, the sooner you book, the less you pay.  that’s just my experience though.

 

Are you planning on using Flight Ease?  If you are, the sooner you book the better as they only have so many seats on each flight and once they are gone, they are gone and your options diminish.

Is Flights Ease thru HAL? I know when we booked flights home on our last ta we went thru Royal Caribbean's air program and international flights were a better deal thru them. Maybe we'll need to make that decision sooner than later!  (this is our first time cruising with HAL)

 

Edited July 9, 2023 by jules815

[kazu]

9 minutes ago, jules815 said:

Is Flights Ease thru HAL? I know when we booked flights home on our last ta we went thru Royal Caribbean's air program and international flights were a better deal thru them. Maybe we'll need to make that decision sooner than later!  (this is our first time cruising with HAL)

 

 

Yes, Flight Ease is HAL’s air programme.  

If flights are domestic - not usually a great savings but if international - there can be.  Prices have been whacko lately.

the good thing about Flight Ease is as long as you book Flexible (the way to go) you don’t pay until Final payment date for your cruise so it leaves other options open.

 

Hope this helps.

[jules815]

7 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Yes, Flight Ease is HAL’s air programme.  

If flights are domestic - not usually a great savings but if international - there can be.  Prices have been whacko lately.

the good thing about Flight Ease is as long as you book Flexible (the way to go) you don’t pay until Final payment date for your cruise so it leaves other options open.

 

Hope this helps.

Very helpful, thank you!

[Hlitner]

We agree with of what Kazu says.  In your situation (and we have oft been in your situation) we strongly suggest you logon to your HAL account and look at the various flight options on Flightease.  Take a best guess as to where and when you want to fly home and reserve a "flex" flight on the Flightease site.  There will be no due payment until around the time of your final payment, and until that point you can cancel or change the booked flight with zero penalty.  If later you decide you want to change you can simply change to a better option or cancel and book your air through other means (such as the airline web sites).   Your flightease reservation will show you at what point you enter the penalty period (this can sometimes be about 60 days prior to your cruise).

 

As to when to book a TA flight, we have never found any magic formula.  In fact, we need to book a flight from Europe to the USA sometime next May and are now looking at options (it is on a cruise line that does not have a good air program).  

 

Hank