Good times and Bad times to book

[Pegasus928]

Hi All

I've spent a bit of time this year going onto the Virgin Atlantic website and doing searches for flights to Florida, always for the same date and always for a 3 week return ticket. (10th - 31st May)
It has amazed me how much of a difference there is in the prices at different times of the year.
When I searched back in September I could have got them for around about £420 per adult. Prices then went up to about £620 then came down again to £450 when I checked between Xmas and New Year.
Another check last night and the prices were back up to £560.
We were originally planning on booking our seats for the same time in 2008 as soon as they became available for sale, but are now thinking it will be best to keep an eye on the prices - by checking weekly if necessary - and as soon as they drop to around the £450 mark buy them.
Does this sound sensible to everyone else, or am I missing something.

Pegasus

[blott]

Generally, scheduled airline prices are cheaper when they're first released, which is around 321 days (or so) before the return date of the flight.

I know that Virgin had a sale which started on 01 January and it seems that, from the promotional emails I've been receiving, most of the other airlines have had one. Perhaps the sale has now ended which is why you've found that the prices have risen?

Usually, the nearer it gets to the date of travel, the more expensive the flights become. Sometimes, if an airline has seats still available a few weeks before the flight, then you might be lucky and get a bargain - don't try this if there's more than two of you as the likelihood of getting lots of seats is a bit remote and you might find that the flights are fully booked and you can't get seats anyway.

If you sign up to the airline's email alerts, then you'll usually receive an email when there are any sales. You could also check out the flights link at the top of each forum page as sometimes they can get cheaper flights as they purchase them in bulk. You can also sometimes get cheaper flights from other airlines rather than Virgin.

[ShirleyD]

Airlines employ people to get the most money out of each seat and it has been suggested that even the 'click through' of people looking at particular flights can let them know people are interested in those date (I don't know if this is true) When seats are released there are often a handful at the 'prices from' price, so if you are quick you will get a good deal then and as you say, they will then go up and down after that depending on how many seats left and whether they think there will be a last minute rush. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer!

[Katys Grandad]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by ShirleyD
Airlines employ people to get the most money out of each seat and it has been suggested that even the 'click through' of people looking at particular flights can let them know people are interested in those date (I don't know if this is true) When seats are released there are often a handful at the 'prices from' price, so if you are quick you will get a good deal then and as you say, they will then go up and down after that depending on how many seats left and whether they think there will be a last minute rush. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer!
[/quote]

As Shirley rightly says, there really isn't an answer to this question. You might be lucky booking in advance or by waiting a little for a fare sale. I fly quite often and have realised that you just take a chance when to book. You are definitely doing the right thing researching the airline websites.

My advice would be to decide what fare you are realistically happy paying and, if it comes up, jump in!