How soon to start watching airfare for Jan '04 trip???

[ColetteN]

I have never planned THIS far in advance, but I decided to check today.

Most airlines do not have any January 2004 rates out yet. I am planning a trip to WDW for the marathon and wanted to start watching fares............

How soon do I start? When are they actually available???

Thanks,
Colette

 

[Amere]

I usually start scoping them out about 6 months in advance. It helps to get on the E-newsletters for the different airlines and I also check travelocity, expedia, and orbitz. Then, about 4 months in advance they will start advertising specials and you wil know what a good deal is. Good luck!

 

[beattyfamily]

I'm the kind of person who books ASAP; within a month of knowing my dates!

The earliest you can book is 330 days out and I believe I booked my Nov/Dec trip this year at 327 days out!!! The rate had dropped from $229 to $181 so I did it!!

Last year, I booked the end of January for a Halloween trip and lucked out when I heard about a 2 day sale and got my tickets for $100 round trip!!!!

I'd rather have the flights I want for the times I want rather than waiting and hoping for a sale. As long as I'm around $200, I'm happy.

Flights do change a bit sometimes so you just have to keep checking to make sure they don't change or cancel your flight. If they do, they will help you find something very similar. I've never had a problem with that.

When I'm searching, I use the airline website, Orbitz.com, Expedia.com, and Travelocity.com. I try to book through the actual airline in the end because if the rates do go down, then you can get a voucher for the difference. You cannot do that at other travel websites.

Good luck!