When to Book Flights

[darrenm]

When you would you guys recommend booking flights ?? I have always left it pretty much last minute or at most a couple of months before we go. I have been speaking to a couple of travel agents who say the sooner the better as the cheapest seats get released first but in my own experience i have not found this to be the case as i have always managed to get seats at great prices on decent airlines virgin, air france, American Airlines etc

I belive you can only book a maximum of 11 months in advance fore schedule flights is it worth doing this or not ??

thanks for any suggestions in at advance

[bridget]

Hi there. It depends how flexible you can be with the date you go away. I'd never book through a travel agent again and always do bookings myself online saving money.

Check out what fares the airlines are quoting now. Although you'll be travelling pretty much peak time it may be quite expensive anyway.

Good luck!

[darrenm]

Hi Bridget, we are pretty flexible on flight dates and will be travelling before the school holidays start, i agree about travel agents and havent used them for a good few years now, but no harm in popping in to get a bit of advice. I did try two or 3 and both said book as early as possible. Should have said this is for October time 2005 so i cant check prices just yet since it is so far away

[steph_goodrum]

We usually book as soon as fares are released as we have a preferred airline and are pretty much tied to school hols (at least until next week.....yippee) even the uni hols are longer.
We usually end up booking with an agent as we have not yet found a time when the online price has been cheaper than that quoted and also then have the benefit of paying a deposit with the balance paid closer to the time.

[chrissb]

Hi Darren
I think it all depends when you want to go. If it is at a peak time like Christmas, Easter or the summer holidays I would book as soon as possible after the flights are released. I booked for Christmas at lunchtime on the day the outbound flights were released and I had already missed the cheapest tickets[msnsad] If you have the flexibility to go whenever you want, and don't mine if you have to make a couple of changes then it might be worth waiting. Also have a look at the currnet prices on line to give you a guide and see what happens to the price as departure time gets closer. Try looking at October 2004 flights which should give you a guide for next year.

[wrpac00]

If you are booking in school holiday time you will have to book almost as soon as the tickets become available to get the dates you want. I know that for August you have to book the day the seats become available.

[darrenm]

Cheers all, so am i right in thinking that it is 11 months max you can book in advance ?? How do you know when the seats have been released is there a site that lets you know ?? or is it just a case of checking/asking a agent ??

Sorry for all the questions just like to have all the info in hand and be ready to book etc when the time comes

Also Steph so you mind if i ask who your preferred airline is ?? We went with virgin last time but wasnt impressed

[wrpac00]

Give or take a day, it is something like 330 days in advance I think.

[steph_goodrum]

Darren
I hate to say it if you've had a bad experience but ours is Virgin. We prefer to travel direct unless we're having a stopover and have tried BA but weren't impressed with them. We stick to the same one as we've never had a bad flight yet with virgin and so we've earned enough miles for free trips (after Sept Ive got enough for another) and I think the loyalty pays in that we have been upgraded on 4 out of our last 6 flights. As we are silver flying club members there are other perks like being able to use premium economy checkin when flying economy as well.

[brizzle]

The tickets are released about 330 days prior officially but the company that you use if you use the link on this site allows you to book some pre-release seats with Virgin.
We booked November 2004 flights last August so know this from experience. I think we paid a slight premium of £30-ish so not too bad and they still worked out cheap.

Brizzle