I am no expert and I sympathize. The frequency of rate changes and lack of pattern is maddening. One thing you can do is go to Kayak.com and have them notify you about rate changes by email. You put in your parameters and you will get daily notifications. At some point, you will take a gamble (and it is a gamble) and decide to buy that day. I have found it helpful. It's easier than checking individual airlines daily.

Have you looked at discounters such as www.cheapoair.com, www.vayama.com or www.ebookers.com? I've had good luck with these and have got really good discounted fares. If you do book with a discounter, be sure to contact the airline(s) you're booked on to make sure they have your reservation. Good luck!

As the Olympics are in London this July I can't see airfares coming down as there will be many people flying into London for the games....

We struggled with this as well. We chose what we thought was a reasonable price, $1100, and sat on our hands till it got there. It went down to $1130, we waited a couple of days and it went up to $1200 so we pounced. We had to wait on my husband's ticket because of his work and a few days later it was up over $1400! Just checked and it's up over $1500.

Moral? Who knows. Choose a price you can afford, pay it if you can find it and go. Don't keep checking the sites -- you'll drive yourself crazy.

This is worst year I have ever known. We are going in the opposite direction.

It would appear that demand in very inconsistent, we have just bit the bullet and paid what we regard as a slightly over the top price as we cannot be bothered wih the game anymore. We just want the security of a booking.

Tickets for early June do seem good value, I didn't see much discounting for July, we are going to The States in October.

Hi law,

>is this a continuing trend and am I too late to get a cheaper fare, so I should buy now before they get even higher? Or is there still a chance they could go down a bit? <

Yes.

I've been doing the same thing.

Prices are about 8% higher than last year.

I decided to buy a ticket now because the plane was filling up and the price was rising.
It's possible that higher oil prices will cause it to rise.

Based on last year's performance, there is about a 30% chance that my ticket will be 20% less than what I paid if I buy an October ticket in late August. However, it's likely that only middle seats will be available.

I hope that this helps.

Thanks everyone for the thoughts! Very helpful!

Three years ago i bought tickets from Pittsburgh to Lisbon for a vacation in August at the price of $750 per ticket.
Last month I paid $1150 each for tickets in August.
I wanted to wait but I was just too chicken to because the price never got less expensive the whole time I have been looking and I keep checking, I cannot help myself, and they are even more now.
I wish you would get a break. But I wouldn't count on it. Find a fare you can live with and go for it.
Good luck