Is there anyone else like me who has been successful with the let's wait until 4-6 weeks out to buy airfare?
 

For the most part, this has always been a successful strategy for me (even for peak summer travel) to find quite reasonable fares. But, we are lucky because most of the time we have some flexibility, and there are only 2 of us. This summer we won't have as much flexibility because we have a July 1 wedding in Lithuania, so I am getting a little nervous about using my typical means of operation to find good airfares. We can be flexible and plan our vacation 2 weeks either side of July 1, and we can fly into a number of different airports because we will be doing the "take a cheap intra European carrier" strategy once we actually arrive on the continent.

Do any of you ever use this wait until closer to the last minute strategy, or do you all book months and months ahead of time? I just don't want this strategy to backfire on me this time, so I'd like some input from other people. Of course, I'd prefer to wait to get good fares because this year, airfares seem much, much higher than in the past. Even for peak season, I don't think I have ever paid more than about $600 total per person from Minneapolis.

Is there anyone else out there who typically lives more on the edge and successfully books reasonably priced last minute tickets?

It really depends on your flexibility and whether you're willing to forego the trip. Once I got a great price two days in advance. In general, I've gotten excellent prices (like 50-60% of the average rate) by watching like a hawk and buying 5-6 months out, and those prices were never duplicated.

The thing with Lithuania is that you might have a limited number of budget carriers going to there, so you might need two flights, depending which airport you start from. And if you're booking these flights at the last minute, they might be high in price.

Watch the Cheap Flights forum at http://www.eurotrip.com/forum .

We tend to have a wait and see approach, too, within limits. I just try to get a good enough fare and good seats - I don't ever shoot for "the best price" because that seems like too much effort. Our last trip was to UK and we waited until four weeks before when we bought tickets. The fare dropped only another $50 so that was negligible to us. We fly out of LAX so that is pretty easy to get good fares.If I absolutely "have" (like the wedding) to be somewhere then I watch for a few months and then buy when it seems reasonable.

I made plane reservations far in advance, and about 2 weeks ago somebody on Fodor's posted Continental dropped the price. I thought I'm going to have a heart attack :)

Turned out, it was for domestic only, and my international flight went up about $400! No more heart attack danger :)

I wouldn't have the nerve to wait that long! But then, I usually go on tours which require advance reservations.

I know some people get vacation time signed, and they just search the net for cheap packages. Whatever comes their way, they go and feel happy.

You can check intra-European carriers, or check the trains - this may add to your flexibility.

Yes, I've done that in the past with good results. But I'm not doing it this year because it just doesn't seem as though it's likely to be a good strategy, given what I've seen looking at summer airfares for a long time now.

I always book early to get upgrade to Business Class or to at least get exit row seats.

I don't think I've ever bought airfare more than 6 or 7 weeks before departure. The best fare I ever got ($264 round trip Newark/Milan) was purchased about 12 days before departure.

We book well in advance if we are cashing in the miles - to get the best choice of the dates (just got early September trip to London on Virgin today - planning to take the cheap connecting flight to wherever once we're across Atlantic). Otherwise, it's flying by the seat of the pants until a great fare comes along...