Air Fares for Fall 2009
 

Hi Everyone,

What time frame would you suggest for purchasing tickets to travel in September of 2009. We are flexible as far as dates go and would like to fly from Los Angeles to London and return from Zurich. Do you think the prices will go down or is it wiser to just lock in by year end?

IMO, I don't see any reason to lock in by year end unless you come across some great sale, which probably won't happen until sometime in the early Spring for Fall travel. The airlines don't usually run sales that far in advance.

I'd sign up for the various airlines email alerts, as well as those from expedia and travelocity, so you'll be notified of any fare sales. I'd also sign up for the Airfare Watchdog email newsletter.

Just keep checking prices and when you see something you think is a good deal, jump on it cause it probably won't last long.

Good advice from bettyk

Thanks bettyk....I was not familiar with Airfare watchdog....looks interesting ...I'll sign up. Haven't taken any trips in the fall for a very long time...so I was not sure as to what timeframe I should try to purchase my tickets in. We are just in the planning stages of a 25th wedding anniversary trip.

I agree !
I too will be hoping to book for Sep but will not get serious until 2009 and maybe as late as May before the airlines lower prices.

Hi NW,

My notes show that the lowest airfares for Sept/Oct 2008 showed up in early August.

They were about $75-100 pp lower than in Feb.

That does not mean that the same thing will happen in 2009.

((I))

There will be fewer seats available in 2009 - I'm sure United can't be the only airline that is cutting back, having announced yesterday that they will cut back by almost ten percent. So all bets are off, previous experiences account for nothing because it is a whole new game.

Sign up for every heads-up email you can get - and I mean from all travel sources you can find, all ticketing websites (even if you'd never book with one of them), suddenly you'll see a special that you would have missed otherwise.

Good luck in these uncertain times!