Last year I got tickets to Athens in early April when the prices dropped dramatically and stayed low. This year I have been getting alerts from Kayak for fares to Madrid. They are holding steady at about $900. I looked on Delta.com at the flight I want & nearly all seats are available. My husband says to go ahead & buy the tickets. I plan to fly Sept. 21 and return Oct. 28. Any opinions?

Thanks!
Marsh

It is a dice roll. Some many new factors this year -- who knows? If you are comfortable with the price, buy it.

I think many people are asking themselves this same exact question.

It's possible that prices are holding steady right now for September because people are nervous about booking travel due to the Volcano, strikes, etc. Sooner or later, probably sooner, the airlines are going to have to try to recoup their losses from the volcano, so fares may likely go way up (like after the oil crisis) and never go down much again.

Don't know if this helps you at all, but I've been watching LAX - MUC, for September travel, for many months now. It remained the same ($1124 nonstop) until about a month ago, after which it began slowly rising. It is now at $1184. I suppose it's possible that there will be sales on Fall travel, but I would be nervous to wait for them.

If there are "fall" sales, they most likely will just not coincide with your dates, especially if they are fixed. More often than not, those "as low as" fares are available on few days only - and, too close together or too far apart, even if your dates are flexible.

Last year I bought tickets for SEA-MAD in September sometime around June 10 when there was a great sale on Delta, probably more of a sale than Delta intended (because of a likely fuel surcharge error). That just happened to be the best price in 2009, but there's no way to tell what date will be the best for buying your ticket this year. Personally I probably would not buy any later than 2 months out, and almost certainly not less than 6 weeks out.

I agree with your hubby, go for it. That's a decent price and you will get the seats more or less you may be able to choose.