Hi there,

I have a trip planned to Vegas in July (not my 1st choice of time of year to go; it is a group trip). The prices seem a bit high (I've checked Jet Blue & Delta) and the itineraries on Delta (where I have a credit & many freq. flier miles) are horrible. In your opinion, should I wait a few more months before booking? I live in NYC & have checked both JFK and LGA. Thanks!

BTW, though it is a group trip, the others are coming in from San Francisco, so I don't think we'd be able to take advantage of a group rate (there will be about 12 of us).

If you're flying on a Friday and returning Sunday, or Monday morning...that's probably why the rates are high. In July they usually come up with some good package rates (air/hotel included)...and I think you'll start seeing special fares pop up maybe in late April. But for Fri/Sun...you probably won't see much variance.

Southwest Airlines flies from Islip if that's a possibility.

Check also Southwest airlines, and for those coming from San Francisco, check also flights out of Oakland. We flew once on Alaskan Airlines - the cheapest at the time, and the flight was smooth and on-time.

For room reservations, yes, definitely too early, everybody says the prices will go down 3 months before arrival. Sign-up with individual hotels for e-mail offers. I got one this morning from Flamingo - forgot to unsubscribe

I didn't think this much time would go by before I could get back on-line! Thanks very much for the advice. I'm looking to arrive in Vegas by Thursday evening (we'll be getting tickets for "O", and we have already reserved rooms at the hotel for the weekend). I hadn't thought about Islip - it would have to be a REALLY good rate as I live in Brooklyn about 15 minutes from JFK - whereas Islip is about a 45/50 minute drive from me. It seems that I should wait a couple of months to book the flight...

Islip fares for June are $220, July fares should be out in a few weeks. I would think you'd find something from JFK at around $280, but probably won't be on sale until late April.
The advantage of SW/Islip is that the tickets are changeable, and if you cancel you lose nothing as long as you take a trip on SW within a year. So it's a little less scary to book early.

SWA isn't booking July yet. (I'm waiting for it, too!) Download their "Ding!" program from their website and it will let you know when they open the dates you need. Generally on other airlines, I try to book my flights about 3 months out to get the best price, but on SWA, I book as soon as they start taking reservations!