My hubby and I are planning a trip to London and Paris the first 2 weeks of Sept. I've begun checking flight prices every day.

Just out of curiousity...when do you start looking for your Sept flights to get the best deaL??

Look all of the time, you never know if a seat sale will come out that will be for travel up to a certain date...Sometimes it works out better to wait until the last minute, but sometimes it is a better deal to book ahead...Last year when we went to Europe (Greece and Netherlands)..I booked my flight in March and we weren't leaving until September either..A better seat sale never came up..

Now.

In the past, the best prices usually appeared 2-3 months before departure date. But this year has been odd. What we've always done is figure out what we think is a fair price considering past pricing experience and our travel budget. When we see that price, we buy and never look back.

Hi jamikins,

It's a crap shoot.

Last year, I booked in Feb for a Sept flight, and that was the best price all year.

This year, I booked in Dec for April and the price dropped $100 the next week.

It's difficult to figure out. You just have to keep looking until you find something reasonable. For instance, I was waiting last year for flights from Newark to Shannon for May 2004 to come down. In January I finally booked thru AA for $615 (I had 2 $300 vouchers) -- In February the flight price dropped to $505. I called AA and they honored the new flight and cut me new tickets. Today, that same flight (just checked) goes for $2512.60 each.

Additionally, we were planning a Tuscany trip for September. Fares were around $800 round trip. Just last week, I found out on this forum that Delta had a fare sale - I snatched up 2 tickets at $431 from Newark to Rome.

Bottom line -- start looking now. I've gotten good deals to Germany on Skyauction.com, but don't get caught up in the bidding. Know your limit then quit. They always have deals to London.

I started looking about 11 months before our upcoming March trip. In late July (8 months prior) I saw a great fare and jumped on it. That direct flight hasn't been cheaper since.

I have already purchased my flights for sept 6 from sf to paris...I bought them about one month ago...you just need to keep looking and BUY when you see a deal...round trip/BA / $468