Flights - To book or not to book?

[mdj101]

Hi All.

Im taking my girlfriend away for a dream holiday next year. She's a primary school teacher so we need to go in the summer holidays.

We are planning to do the following.

London > New York 12/08/08
New York > Orlando 15/08/08
Orlando > London 29/08/08

Ive been looking at flight prices every day and they do seem to fluctuate a little.

My main question is, do I book now (flights are currently circa £700) or do I wait? I've noticed people on here saying flights in august with BA / Virgin £400 or £500 for august 2007 and posted in may / june 2007.

Do I wait or not?

[pieman790]

It is a gamble unfortunately as never know whats going to happen with flight prices. Generally they do not come down too much on schedule flights however, having said that it is difficult to compare to the flights you mention as you have an additional flight to New York.

[Paula D-S]

I'd be tempted to book. I booked ours for the summer hols next year on November 17th, to book the same flights this morning would cost an extra £733 for our family of 4.

[CERICROWLEY]

Mark

You may have found people saying flights are cheap in August, but are coming back in Sept or so that why they are reasonably priced because it staggers outside the school holidays.

You have to look at it and say are your rigid with your dates, Yes then book now.

If you are flexible at all and don't mind changing your dates and maybe having a longer stay or shorter stay in New York, then you COULD wait a little longer. As there is only the two of you it could be easier to slip into a flight, as this is a very popular route for families, it is harder to book multiple seats a lot later.

As you are also having a layover, you may find that the scheduled flights don't normally change in price an awful. I found that most sites tend to up the prices on Friday and lover then slightly on Monday afternoon.

[Newhomebuyer]

If you were going to go from the 22nd August I would say wait, but for the 12th then circa £700 is usually a reasonable price. They can go as high as £850 for early August.
There is no knowing what will definately happen but if this is your girl's dream holiday, book it, and start planning the details. You are going to get so much joy out of knowing you are booked and planning the details of the trip together.

[mdj101]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your quick and informative responses. I have been watching the flight sites for a few weeks and they do seem to fluctuate a little.

The reason for the New York stop over is due to the savings on flights really, at the moment New York is only costing us a couple of hundred pounds as it works out cheaper to fly via New York.

I'm lucky in the sense that the villa is only costing me £320 for 14 days. It actually sleeps 8 - 10 but we haven't got anyone else to come with us. We did have but they are now either having babies, getting married or buying houses! lol

Lots of space all to our selves. The villa is located in greater groves.

Anyway, back to the flights, i can book one at present with virgin / delta (internal) for £665 however the outbound flight is with continental on a 737-300 which is a smaller aircraft and will add over an hour to the new york leg, making the trip about 8:40 instead of 7:30 (approx) on a 747 or A340 don't fancy all that time couped up in a narrow bodied aircraft.

I can book separate virgin £664 and internal flights are £50, comes out at £714. was £707 yesterday and BA last week was £696 so it's going in the wrong direction.

I've been to orlando before but Kirsty, (my other half) hasn't. So i'm really looking forward to it. Will be getting the car hire from here £226! and some of the attraction tickets, some i will get elsewhere as there are some good deals to be had and every penny counts!

I was going to start going on about money but i will start another thread for that!

Mark the outbound leg cannot be on a 737 they cannot fly across the atlantic[msnwink]

I would check again using the airlines own web sites[msnsmile2]

Good luck[msnsmile]

[ellie]

Wow, Mark, New York for just £200 in August - would love to know which site that is with as that is truly a bargain price. I would certainly grab a flight at that price as a domestic flight will not cost you £500, so you are very much on the right side.

I am amazed that you have found a villa for just £350 for 2 weeks! At that sort of price the owner will be paying YOU to stay in their home - I hope you have done lots of research and know what you are getting - it is less than you would pay in the most basic 1* motel so do make sure it is exactly what you are looking for. Ask the owner many questions about how old it is, when it was last redecorated, how frequently they replace linens towels and furniture. Also ask how old the photos of the home are, and what the villa looks out onto. You are better to know exactly what you are getting before you arrive rather than getting a shock when you open the door. I am sure your villa owner will be more than happy to give you all the information they can as we all love talking about our homes and helping our guests.

I have to say that we could not manage to maintain our home at that sort of price, especially in August, it would not pay for pest control, garden maintenance and pool cleaning, let alone anything else!

Hope you soon find your flights, but as others have said, this is peak time and the chances of cheap flights coming up are very low, unless you can return in September, as this is a less popular time because children have to be back at school. Snap up those £200 New York flights now or you will regret it. If they have 2 extra seats left I would be tempted to snap them up myself if I could find out which website you were looking at. [8D]

Have a great time and hope it all pans out ok.

[mfairhurst]

We fly DELTA and they only put cheaper flights out about 6 MONTHS before with AGENTS it is worth keep looking each day or week .
May be you will be lucky and get some a little cheaper and they go via NEW YORK .
MAUREEN
www.onlinefloridavillas.com/villas/1683.aspx

[Sally D]

When I see these prices I could kick myself as a couple of weeks ago I found flights 18th August 2008 with Air Canada via Toronto £1,739.50 for 5 adults.

They were that price for a week and when I went to book they had shot up, just wished I had booked them when I saw them and not messed around[msncry].

I'm still looking but it looks like it will be later in August now.