Best Time To Book Flights

Could anyone give me some advice on when the best time to book flights to Orlando is.
We fly out at the end of July 2013 for two weeks.

I see that British Airways have flights available now but they are very expensive.
Virgin will only let me book up to half way through my second week obviously as you can only book so far in advance but come the weekend my two weeks should be within range.
Would you recommend booking the flights with Virgin as soon as they are available? Should they be cheaper than B/Airways?
Would it be worth waiting for one of the sales Virgin do or do I run the risk of not being able to get my flights as they need to be on particular dates?

Any info and advice much appreciated
Thanks

Flights have gone up considerably over the past couple of years anyway but I wasn't willing to take the chance of not getting the flights that we needed for the specific dates we wanted so we ended up biting the bullet and booking when the flights became available ( we are flying with Virgin) they were expensive at £650 each. We looked at taking an indirect route but all the flights whichever way we looked at it came out roughly the same price. We maybe could have got the flights cheaper had we waited but I have never had that much luck with sales of any kind....

Scheduled flights tend to go on sale around 300 days in advance, and as you have found you need the flight home to be available too. In my experience the flights are cheapest on day of release, and just keep going up from then on.
To throw a spanner in the works, BA and Virgin have occasional sales which briefly reduce the prices but flights on popular dates could already be full and relying on booking flights in a sale will only work if your dates are flexible.

As you want to come home mid-August, most of the airlines will be releasing their flights in the next fortnight. You don't say how many seats you will need, but consider flying indirect via another American city. Flights with a short stop in, say, Chicago, can be literally hundreds of pounds cheaper per passenger, and that's cash to spend on park tickets!

Let us know how you get on. I wish you luck. This time last year I was looking for 10 flights (which later became 11) and there's a lot of variables to consider.
Cheers.

If you check with someone like Charter travel who advertise here you should be able to book them now anyway as they have an allocation and can book them much earlier.

Thanks for the response, we need 4 adult seats. I think I'll book asap, it sounds the safer bet.

We always book ours through Charter Travel, we have never had any issues booking through them and they seem to be quite competitive.

Hi

I have submitted a quote request for my flight dates from Charter Travel. Just wanted to check they are reputable and offer good prices and service?

Thanks

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Originally Posted by Dads_Taxi

In my experience the flights are cheapest on day of release, and just keep going up from then on.

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That doesn't really match my experience although I agree it's all down to timing and luck with flight prices.

I think the perceived wisdom on this is that you should determine what price you're comfortable paying based on past fares and budget and buy when that comes up, That might be when they're released, during the sales that occur throughout the year or at the last minute. Of course, you have to be realistic about fares and be ready to jump in at short notice.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JackoFamily4

Hi

I have submitted a quote request for my flight dates from Charter Travel. Just wanted to check they are reputable and offer good prices and service?

Thanks

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We've used them for the past 11 years when it suits us (if the flights have to be paid in full at the time we need to book then we usually just book direct with Virgin but if they are a way off and we would rather just pay the deposit for now then use them or if they have good offers on). We have always found them to be very reliable when phoning but I have known people to say they have waited a while for email reply.

Book as early as possible.

Try Charter flights as well as these can be cheaper than Scheduled and have the same and sometimes better leg room and on board facilities and some allow you to pay a deposit rather than the whole lot in one go.

We booked our flights for October 2013 in April this year as soon as they went on sale. Charter flights direct from Newcastle to Sanford for £560 each and only had to pay £250 each deposit with the balance due August 2013.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Katys Grandad

That doesn't really match my experience although I agree it's all down to timing and luck with flight prices.

I think the perceived wisdom on this is that you should determine what price you're comfortable paying based on past fares and budget and buy when that comes up, That might be when they're released, during the sales that occur throughout the year or at the last minute. Of course, you have to be realistic about fares and be ready to jump in at short notice.

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I agree. Unless you have access to all the yield management systems the airline has, you won't ever be able to predict their fares, and you'll drive yourself crazy trying to do so. As KG says, pick a price you want to pay, and if the fares hit that price, buy them. And then stop looking to see if they get any cheaper :-)

But do check non direct flights if you're looking for the best prices