when to book flights

[grahamA]

Hi Guys, when is the best time to book my flights to Orlando for Sept 08? Do I book now or do I hold on to try and get some bargains nearer the departure date?

[ellie]

Now that IS a difficult one! It really depends how brave you are, and if you have already booked your accommodation (a villa I hope!) It may be possible to get a last minute deal, but what if you can't? And it also depends on how many people are in your party. If it is just 2 people then maybe you can pick up a last minute bargain, but how would you feel if, at the last minute you couldn't get flights? You could see your whole holiday disappear in a flash. If you want to be sure of having got everything in place then I would book now and have plenty of choice.

Good luck anyway.[8D]

[LiesaAnna]

we booked the villa last year and have just booked and paid for the flights this is for september this year, in fact its 9 weeks away, i think the prices do go down quite a bit, but it also depends on the size of your party,

[CERICROWLEY]

Graham

A lot of factors will come into play. How many of you are going, where are you going from, who do you want to travel with, and what time in September.

If there are ony two of three of you and the time of travel is outside of the usual school seasons, you may well find the tickets fairly cheap anyway. One other thing to consider is travelling indirect CAN?? be cheaper than flying direct. All I can really say is keep looking at the all the prices, for Chartered, scheduled and indirect and if you find a price you are happy with, book it. You will kick yourself if do miss out on it, beacuse it it either all sold or the price goes up.

[rosie]

The rule of thumb we always applied was to book the villa first, as that is the most important part of the holiday, then as soon as we found flight prices we were happy with, to go ahead and book them.

Knowing it is all booked meant we then spent the rest of the time planning what to do while we were there.

Once you've booked flights never go back and look again as if they do happen to be cheaper you will spend your time thinking you should have waited, as long as you are happy with what you paid, any last minute bargains are irrelevant.

[edlea]

Unless there's more than one family going, wait until May next year.
My advice is to type in your requirements to Opodo and Expedia on a daily basis until you find something irrestible.You have PLENTY of time.

[Mick-H]

As others have said plenty of time so don't rush, I try to get tickets around the £400 mark anything less is a bonus.
I'd never book a villa before booking flights just in case flights are to expensive.

[domster]

If I knew the answer to this I would be a millionaire!

On a serious note we tend to play it safe and look for around 8- 5 months from travel. If the price will come down we normally find this is the period you find they discount. Although we purchaed tickets last month and this month the Virgin flights we almost slashed in half.

The end of the day I would go with the feeling if you are happy to pay the price then book it.

[Katys Grandad]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Katys Grandad

Originally posted by CERICROWLEY
Graham

A lot of factors will come into play. How many of you are going, where are you going from, who do you want to travel with, and what time in September.

If there are ony two of three of you and the time of travel is outside of the usual school seasons, you may well find the tickets fairly cheap anyway. One other thing to consider is travelling indirect CAN?? be cheaper than flying direct. All I can really say is keep looking at the all the prices, for Chartered, scheduled and indirect and if you find a price you are happy with, book it. You will kick yourself if do miss out on it, beacuse it it either all sold or the price goes up.

Good advice. I really can't see any advantage to booking flights 13 months in advance unless you have a very large group and want a particular carrier and flight. Even then, there will be seats available much closer to the date which may well be cheaper.

Also be aware that airlines frequently amend their schedules and in 13 months time your flights might look very different. I booked a Florida trip for November in March and found out last week that the transatlantic service I was on is now being withdrawn in October leaving me with an itinerary I wouldn't have booked if it I had known.

Keep you eyes on the options and jump in when it seems right for you.

[grahamA]

Thanks for all the info, we are in the throws on deciding which villa to book (not an easy decision), there are 7 of us going so I think we will look at booking flights around xmas and hope for the best.
cheers again everyone for your input, I am sure I will be posting in the future with more questions!!