How far in advance should I buy the family flights to Australia ?

Sleepyheads

We have been invited to a wedding in Australia next year. Although its currently more than 12 months away I am aware that prices for flights vary wildly. Is it best to book the flights as soon as they go on sale, ie. a year in advance or is there some logic in waiting? We have 2 small children so will fly indirectly and stop over for a couple of days each way. Thanks:beer:

Dragonista

We needed to return to the UK for a wedding this month, by the time our christmas bonuses had come through (and our means of paying) the flights had dropped 30% in value (we bought the flights at the end of January, 4 months in advance). We went with SQ who fly to Australia so it's worth a punt. They had the original priced seats too, four different prices including fully flexible (2x the price). It did mean no flexibility on flight times (they do 4 flights a day) and we ended up with a 9am and a 2pm flight. but otherwise it was great!

richardw

Where in the UK are you Sleepyheads?

When is the wedding in 2014?

Whereabouts in Australia will it be?

Itsgottabedone

I'd suggest buying tickets as soon as you can afford to do so - fares sometimes decrease closer to departure time but more often than not they don't! Also, once you've paid the fares you can start saving ££s for your spending money on this great trip.

A couple of things to bear in mind - you should buy travel insurance at the same time you fork out for the airfares, and (heaven forbid) the wedding was cancelled this is not likely to be covered by the insurance.

Obviously_the_best

Book a couple of weeks after they're released, which is approximately 11 months before return departure dates. I'd try to get a BA or Cathay Pacific flight, as you and the kids will almost definitely enjoy Hong Kong.

If you do decide to do a couple of hours stopover though, consider nobody but the cheapest airline for convinient times for you. They're all of muchness along the kangaroo route.