booking air

[mtebor]

We are doing our first river cruise about a year out and will be booking our own airfare. We will be flying into Munich and will be staying there for 5 nights before heading to Zurich before the cruise leaves Basil to Amsterdam.

 

My question is when is the best time to book airfare?

 

We will be leaving Toronto Canada and I see some great rates. I am thinking that when bookings become available, it will probably about $700 pp roundtrip (which I think is a great price).

 

Thanks

[jpalbny]

The best time to book air is when you see a price that you're happy with, for an itinerary that's acceptable. I've read many articles which pretend to know the exact time that tickets are cheapest. I don't believe any of them...

 

I often find that international business fares tend to be best 6-9 months out but that's an average and a gross oversimplification, not a rule. I will check fares dozens of times, on multiple sites, before deciding on what I'm buying.

 

No matter what you pay, odds are high that someone else paid less, and others paid more. If you have an idea of how expensive tickets "should" be, and a fare is available that you're happy with, take it. Then don't look again.

 

PS - have a great cruise! Munich is a fun place. But why go to Zürich if your cruise leaves from Basel? Is that where you meet your transportation?

 

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[bubbulz]

JP and Chris pretty much summed it up. I start watching fares even before booking opens by using sample dates, just to get a feel for how fares are running and how much they vary. Then I know when I see a "good" price and can be ready to jump on it. I've also found that prices can vary a lot depending on where you're flying. For instance, last year business class tickets for MIA-VIE-BUD were a few thousand dollars less for the two of us than MIA-VIE on the same airline! We decided to fly to Budapest for a few days and then take the RailJet (approx 2.5 hours in comfort) to Vienna for the start of our cruise. Likewise, flying home out of Budapest was much less expensive than flying out of Nuremberg or Munich, so we used FF miles to book a separate flight back to Budapest for a night before flying home out of there. Trains are often a great option, and there are inexpensive flights often available for flights within Europe.

[mtebor]

Thanks.

Originally when I started looking from my local airport tickets were $1,300. If I drive 1 1/2 hours and fly out of Toronto it is so much cheaper.

 

The transport is out of Zurich even though we toyed with the idea of skipping Zurich and staying in Basel instead. We have 3 or 4 nights to stay and only want to stay in one place. I figured Zurich is bigger and might have more to offer.

[Gourmet Gal]

I agree with jpalbny except once I book I continue to monitor the price ocassionally because if it goes down enough it can sometimes be worth the change fees to rebook.