best time to book airfare

[sweetmommieof4]

When is a good time to start looking for deals on airfare? Also when is a good time to book? Our cruise isn't until Dec.

[Jimbo]

#1 you can't even begin to look for prices until 330 days out....#2 book air whenever you are comfortable with the price, after you get it, never look again, because you will be upset if the price goes down where you could have saved some money.

 

Jimbo:)

[parody]

to start looking for deals

 

In terms of looking, you can start now. You can proceed manually or set up email notices from Deal Detector or Trip Stalker to have it done automatically (although it's critical to know which airlines will be included in these searches). If by "deals" you mean sales, your not likely to find much as sale periods offered by airlines generally have a much shorter time horizon compared to a trip that wouldn't happen until December 2006.

 

when is a good time to book?

 

The simple answer is to book once you locate fares and flights that meet your pre-established criteria. For a more detailed answer, one would need to know a variety of things such as where you are coming from and where you are going. What is the chance that this trip might not happen? Is Southwest Airlines or jetBlue Airlines a possibility (maybe even Allegiant Air)? The reason generally being that their available scheduling horizon is much shorter than so-called legacy airlines.

[sweetmommieof4]

We live in Oklahoma and will be flying to Houston. We could drive but I really don't want to be in the car with the kids for a long period of time. Last year they started getting bored about half way through the drive.

[parody]

We live in Oklahoma and will be flying to Houston.

 

That is useful information because Southwest Airlines is the only airline that has nonstop flights between Oklahoma City and Houston Hobby. Their current booking schedule, however, only goes through June 9 so you can't book with them at the moment for a trip in December. However, as a point of reference, their lowest fares for flights in June are $172.60 pp. In the past they have had Ding! specials for this route at only $124 pp round trip. But, the availability of Ding! specials is quite random. So, baring any other information, one strategy is to book with them when it becomes feasible and check out future Ding! specials in the hope of making an adjustment.