I made air reservations via DCL several months in advance (including choosing the specific flights and our seats), so the 60 day thing definitely isn't true.
Advantages to booking air via DCL:
- If you're using DCL insurance, your flights are covered by the insurance.
- Within reason, they'll try to wait the ship on you if the flights are late. (On our recent December cruise, the Fantasy left Port Canaveral hours late after waiting for air travel-delayed guests to arrive.)
- If you decide to cancel the cruise before the Paid-in-Full date, you can also cancel the flights with no penalty. (I have done this.)
- You can change your flights (before PIF) with no penalty.
- If the cruise returns late back to the home port, DCL will reschedule your flights without charge to you if that's needed. This (along with the first reason I listed) makes DCL-booked air a great choice for cruises during hurricane season, which are the cruises most likely to be disrupted.
- You can now choose the day and time of your flight via DCL (they didn't use to allow this without an extra fee).
Disadvatages:
- You can't book a discount carrier like SWA or Jet Blue (which are more cost-effective and often have more non-stop flights) via DCL.
Bottom line: If your plans are set in stone and you're cruising during a low-risk time of year (not hurricane season or winter storm season), you're probably better off booking flights with a discount carrier to get the best deal. But if your plans are tentative or there is some other reason you want Disney to take responsibility for your flights, then DCL might be the better option.