When to buy plane tickets

Eleanorus

My adult son and I want to fly Cardiff to Belfast in May with Aer Lingus.  After Wizz pulled all flights to and from Cardiff I am concerned that other companies will do the same.  If I buy tickets now while prices are fairly low will I be refunded if this happens?  Do I need to buy holiday insurance at the same time as booking?  Should I wait till nearer the time?

Caz3121

if a flight is cancelled then you would be due to be rerouted or refunded.
Buy direct from the airline - many third parties charge fees to process refunds even if the airline cancels
travel insurance would cover if you cannot travel due to an insured reason but the flight is still operating eg you break a leg before travel etc. If the airline cances the flight the insurance would direct you to the airline for refund.

CKhalvashi

Always buy directly from the airline.

Wizz were operating quite a specialist base at Cardiff, quite far outside of their traditional comfort zone and haven't been able to make the base work. Bristol is likely a better location than Cardiff for an A321, especially as Cardiff Airport is on the wrong side of the city to make anything else work. As with any company, Wizz have to act in their commercial interests. The loads last year looked quite good but the yields definitely didn't and 230 seats is a lot to fill. Wizz have never flown UK domestic flights. If you can fill all seats at £1 a ticket you will lose significant money, so yield is more important than load factor.

As to when to book, I'd have no idea on this particular route but at the moment about 8 weeks before looks to be the sweet spot. If I see a price I'm happy with on a route I want/need to fly I'll always book it there and then and would advise doing the same.

Eleanorus

Thanks!  I live in Cardiff and the flight times suit me better.

CKhalvashi

Ryanair have just announced a new Belfast to Cardiff route, I'd leave it a few days for fares to come down (with any LCC new route you'll typically see for the first week-ish at the 'from' price in the advertising before dropping to normally about £10 on certain dates afterwards. We've picked up a 'from £79.99' last year for about £20 by waiting about a week).