when to book flights for april 08

chiefdave

i'm heading out to las vegas next april, i need to go out on the 9th and come back on 21st and was wondering when the best time to book would be. i've looked around and some flights are already available. when's the best time to book, i've found flights for £425 with northwest airlines but some sites don't list flights that far ahead. is it best to hang on a while or get booked up now?

Engadine

The earlier you book the cheaper the fare. Fares are normally on sale 10/11 months in advance, the ones that aren't on sale at the moment should be pretty soon. I would hang off until most airlines have their fares available and book the best one that suits you. The nearer the departure date the more expensive the fare

PBA

Engadine wrote: »

The earlier you book the cheaper the fare.

To put it bluntly, this advice is wrong. If you want to book a week or two before travelling then you will pay more, but otherwise prices fluctuate all the time.

I tend to find that it's best to book transatlantic flights about 2-3 months before travelling. April is still an off peak time for travel to the States, and it's more than likely that at least a couple of the airlines will have fare sales you'll be able to take advantage of. Also the Open Skies treaty between the EU and the USA comes into effect in March 2008. This should lead to much more competition across the atlantic as airlines announce new routes which they weren't allowed to operate before, so I'd say it would certainly be worth waiting until the airlines announce their plans before booking. This isn't likely to be until the end of this year at the very earliest, or the first couple months of next year, so that's another reason to hold off booking now.

chiefdave

PBA wrote: »

To put it bluntly, this advice is wrong. If you want to book a week or two before travelling then you will pay more, but otherwise prices fluctuate all the time.

I tend to find that it's best to book transatlantic flights about 2-3 months before travelling. April is still an off peak time for travel to the States, and it's more than likely that at least a couple of the airlines will have fare sales you'll be able to take advantage of. Also the Open Skies treaty between the EU and the USA comes into effect in March 2008. This should lead to much more competition across the atlantic as airlines announce new routes which they weren't allowed to operate before, so I'd say it would certainly be worth waiting until the airlines announce their plans before booking. This isn't likely to be until the end of this year at the very earliest, or the first couple months of next year, so that's another reason to hold off booking now.

meaning that there's no "best time" to buy, i suppose the only thing to do would be to try and work out what a low fare to vegas would be and as soon as i see something around that snap it up.

Engadine

PBA wrote: »

To put it bluntly, this advice is wrong. If you want to book a week or two before travelling then you will pay more, but otherwise prices fluctuate all the time.

I tend to find that it's best to book transatlantic flights about 2-3 months before travelling. April is still an off peak time for travel to the States, and it's more than likely that at least a couple of the airlines will have fare sales you'll be able to take advantage of. Also the Open Skies treaty between the EU and the USA comes into effect in March 2008. This should lead to much more competition across the atlantic as airlines announce new routes which they weren't allowed to operate before, so I'd say it would certainly be worth waiting until the airlines announce their plans before booking. This isn't likely to be until the end of this year at the very earliest, or the first couple months of next year, so that's another reason to hold off booking now.

To put it bluntly I don't agree with you either! Airlines do have seat sales from time to time but there is no guarantee that the prices will be lower than when the fares are initially issued. Prices tend to be higher, when each class sells, the fare goes up. The new open skies agreement isn't going to result in the free for all that some people think it will, there will be more choice for travellers but a lot of people in the travel industry don't think it will have a huge effect on fares as fares to the US are already low particularly in economy. Eventually it will bring down the price of travel but not immediately.

If you are tied to particular dates then it makes sense to book early to ensure you get a good price for the dates you need.