rholt

We are looking at flying from Washington to Lisbon next Easter. In just the two weeks I have been tracking the flight cost - I have seen a decent uptick in prices. I am seriously considering pulling the trigger now.

But - I am concerned that purchasing tickets so far in advance is risky. I would love to hear other folks experiences (good and bad) on purchasing tickets way ahead of time.

Thanks

MomDDTravel

If I know I am going - I will purchase when I see a good airfare.

The downside is cancellations. Are you sure you are going? As sure as anyone can be anyway?

The risk? The airfare goes down. The risk? You have to cancel.

Christina

To answer the question, I think the farthest in advance I've bought airfare is probably about 4-5 months. I don't know what patterns are right now in that regard (although I did track some airfares to Europe for this summer before I decided it was just to expensive for me, and they really didn't change that much over the four months in advance I was checking).

I would never buy airfare as far in advance as you are, as I just don't like to or care to plan my life that far in advance. I've never seen a reason to, either. I would think it is risky if you are buying on a airline that is in big financial trouble or some airline that is cancelling routes a lot, or something like that. If it isn't even a big, standard airline, I suppose anything could happen, but for the other cases, there are definitely some chance they the flight you bought may be cancelled or at least, have very different times. Some airlines in the past, when they've dropped routes, have changed things a lot so that they've made people transfer when they originally had bought a nonstop flight, for example. If I decide to pay more for a nonstop flight, I do that for a reason, and would be very unhappy if it were changed to one including transfers (and sometimes transfers that could be on different days or involved 6 hour or more layovers).

You'd have to judge for yourself the odds that you will not want to make that trip on that date, and what that means to you. I wouldn't care too much about not taking a flight if I were hit by a bus tomorrow and were dead by the flight date, but some people might.

There are definitely more risks to this than just if you decide you want to cancel or that the fare will go down.

cmeyer54

331 days - the max you can purchase in advance. of course, that was when buying early meant getting a great fare. if using frequent flier miles, 331 days is usually the time I start checking.

caroltis

I usually purchase the tickets around 3-6 months for European trips. I've never regretted it because of fares going down...they usually go up a bit. The way we look at it - you can pay $100 per ticket to make changes so we just hope and pray all goes well and if something came up where we had to cancel, we could at least reschedule without too much of a penalty. One of the main reasons we buy early is so that we will be able to choose decent seats.

cybertraveler

We book 331 days in advance with Frequent Flier points for our time share, since we know that we'll be going on that certain week.

Since we don't have enough points to cover everyone in the family, I watch fares on kayak.com and buy as soon as I see a drop in price. This year, I bought in March for next February. Good move so far, since fares keep climbing.

Flights will probably change a bit, but at least I know that I have a confirmed seat. I also linked the reservations for the Frequent Flier and the paid tickets, so any changes will keep us together (hopefully!)

flymeaway

I've never purchased plane tickets to Europe more than six months in advance, but we routinely buy seats for our spring break trip to Hawaii a year out because the direct flights from our city sell out for the dates we want. We visit my parents in Jackson Hole, Wyoming at Christmas and also buy those tickets early (usually in July) for the same reason.

Leely2

I have bought tickets to East Africa--when I had to leave on a specific date and needed to return on a specific date and could only get the camp I wanted on certain days--about 10 months in advance. I always purchase trip insurance for African trips, though.

I bought tickets to Rome for the week between Christmas and Easter recently--so more than 6 months. This is the first time I've bought Europe tickets so early. Again, because of work, I know now that I can only get away on certain dates. Saw cheap flights for holiday travel and so I did it.

lch7326

If you are comfortable with the ticket prices I would pull the trigger. I bought 5 tickets to travel to Salzburg for Christmas eleven months ahead of time. Prices have continued to rise and I don't think that will change soon.

schnauzer

if using FF points then I ring several days before they are even due to be released to find out when they are actually going to go on sale. I have just bought FF with JAL 11.5 months out, also we have booked an full fare ticket with JAL so we both go on the same flight. We have an apartment booked already so I needed to make sure we got the flights we wanted. Leave nothing to chance. I am a plan a long time out type of person.
Schnauzer

bozama

Usaully about 5 or 6 months ahead, I have a family so I have to plan ahead.
For my trip this July I bought my tickets in December, so this time 8 months in advance. Ticket prices have not dropped.

johngerard

I have bought my tickets 6 months before the flight & seen the price drop substantially 3 months before the date. This year I checked the prices 6 months prior to our date- £2350 for 4 of us to New York 6 months ago on Delta, BA, AA & more for the others. 3 months to go & Continental was £1550, 1 week later £1800 - provisionally booked our flight but was unable to organise accomodation within the 72 hours the ticket price was promised. Price is back up to £2400.
I have noticed that the prices are cheaper on a Monday & steadily creep up by the end of the week.

caroline_edinburgh

For my main holiday, usually between 9 months and a year ahead - as soon as I have the spare cash. Prices, for flights I get, anyway, usually only go up. I have permanent travel insurance so if I ever had to cancel, it wouldn't be a problem.

rholt

Thanks. Good feedback.

Sounds like if I am confident ont he dates - I should just pull the trigger.