When do you buy your airline tickets?

[TaniBBurwell]

Hey yall! I looked on this thread and I couldn't find anything on this topic.

 

So, when is the best time to buy your airline tickets? I am travelling from JFK <---> MBJ in mid October.

 

Thanks!

 

-Tanya

[TA Wendy]

Hi Tanya,

That is a good question that unfortunately requires a crystal ball to answer! The price of airline tickets is dependent on so many things.... how many travelers are flying, how much competition there is on any given route, whether one airline kicks off a sale, price of fuel, even things like weather. You can be seated on the plane next to someone who paid twice as much as you or half as much and there is not a whole lot of rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes I think the airlines just throw a bunch of prices into the air and whichever lands face up is what they will charge. : )

My best suggestion if you are traveling in Oct. is to begin to watch for airline sales, check newspapers, and online every week or so, and when the price seems good to you take the plunge. Unfortunately, if the price drops after you have purchased your ticket you will not often be able to get the lower rate. If you are purchasing a package that includes your air, transfers and land it may be bundled all into one price and you just need to purchase the airline ticket when you first make your reservations. Good luck to you in finding a great price! Oct to Jamaica there should actually be some pretty good rates available both on hotel and air!

[ChicagoPT]

For our november wedding, we purchased ours right when they became available. They were fairly cheap and only one airline was offering direct tickets (we hate changing flights in mexico city). We felt we should jump right on it and are glad we did because that flight is sold out!

[hockeymom97]

Because Oct is coming up fairly soon, I would start checking prices daily and when you find the flight you want at a reasonable price...book it!! I really like using Kayak (kayak.com)....you can set up a request for the flight you are looking to book and the site will email you as often as you like (I have mine set to daily) with the best available price.

[KarenM]

One thing I did was sign up at bing travel. You enter the info for where/when you're going & they send you updates every day with a projection of whether to buy now or wait. It really helped me let people know when they should book.

To answer your question, though, we booked our travel in like November for a May wedding, way in advance but we did get a good deal.

 

Cheap flights, hotels, destinations - Bing Travel

 

good luck!

[MsSmithtobe]

have you thought about using a travel agent? Sometimes they can lock in rates.

[JanineA]

I have to agree with Hockeymom just keep checking. If you're not using a TA I suggest calling the airline and setting up your own sales discount code. (its only 5% but its something). We used miles for our tickets both to our wedding and honeymoon but most of our guests and friends booked in October when rates were at their lowest.

[kimberly333]

You can get free fare alerts at Airfare Deals - Cheap Flights - Airfarewatchdog just put in your depature city, arrival city, and flight critera and they email you cheap flight specials.

[DWBride615]

I always order from Orbitz. They have this great 100% cheapest rate guarantee for the trip. Doesn't matter what day you buy the tickets, if the same tickets you bought were sold cheaper to someone else, then the difference will be sent to you by a check in the mail. You don't even have to do anything yourself, it's automatic.

 

Of course, from my experience, the earlier you buy plane tickets, the cheaper the price. So, I would buy them the soonest you can.

 

I'm an avid traveler, so another tip I would advise is to try buying tickets during the weekdays and buy them early in the morning like between 1-4am. That's when the tickets are the cheapest because people don't normally buy tickets then.

 

When I first heard about that last tip, I didn't really take it seriously, until I tested it out and saw the difference.

 

 

And if you're talking about group travels, might I also suggest a travel agent? Some can lock in good rates.

 

Hope that helps =]

[kimberly333]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DWBride615 I always order from Orbitz. They have this great 100% cheapest rate guarantee for the trip. Doesn't matter what day you buy the tickets, if the same tickets you bought were sold cheaper to someone else, then the difference will be sent to you by a check in the mail. You don't even have to do anything yourself, it's automatic. Of course, from my experience, the earlier you buy plane tickets, the cheaper the price. So, I would buy them the soonest you can. I'm an avid traveler, so another tip I would advise is to try buying tickets during the weekdays and buy them early in the morning like between 1-4am. That's when the tickets are the cheapest because people don't normally buy tickets then. When I first heard about that last tip, I didn't really take it seriously, until I tested it out and saw the difference. And if you're talking about group travels, might I also suggest a travel agent? Some can lock in good rates. Hope that helps =]

I guess I have to start setting my alarm clock for 2am LOL!!!!