Buying airline tickets - when is the best time to book a flight for the Christmas holidays? (hotel, airlines)

[mawipafl]

Does anyone know if there's a 'sneaky' trick to buying airline tickets in order to get the cheapest fare? Is there a certain day of the week or a particular time of day?

We've been surfing all the websites for the past week and have seen incremental increases each day it seems -- except for one day: I found a flight that was $200 less than the cheapest we had seen, and when I went back to the site 5 minutes later, it was gone - poof. Missed the opportunity.

So, I'm just curious if anyone knows if there's a better time than another to book a flight such as Monday night at 11 pm or Thursday morning at 5 am or anything like that.

Additionally, I would guess that the closer we get to the holidays the more expensive it will get? Is that true?

{Note: we're looking for a round trip between San Francisco and Jacksonville arriving in Jax on Dec. 23 and departing on Sunday, Jan. 3rd.}

[BlueWillowPlate]

Wow, I just priced those dates on Southwest and the fare, $521, was like going to Europe! Can you fly out of Orlando? It would probably be cheaper.

Maybe the most inexpensive fares were awhile back, but there will likely be some last minute ones if you can stand waiting around for them.

I have to say, after the airfare craziness last year, that any recognizable pattern that used to exist might not be there anymore.
I think the best thing to do is sign up with Kayak or Yapta or both, and just keep looking every day (look at ITA too) till you see something to jump on.

[Jaggy001]

Already done! We are going to Europe and got great prices from Continental.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by mawipafl

So, I'm just curious if anyone knows if there's a better time than another to book a flight such as Monday night at 11 pm or Thursday morning at 5 am or anything like that.

When you find a good deal around the holidays, you book it. You may never get a chance.

Finding great deals is a matter of persistence. I tried to book a nine day car rental in Seatlle last month. The first price that I found was $565 for a compact!

After laying out my itinerary, I got it down to $185 for a six day rental.

[pitroad]

I booked a flight (package with travelocity) from Raleigh,NC to Seattle, WA departing on Dec. 23 and returning Dec 29 back in July. The total cost (flight & hotel) was $891.56. I checked this morning (after seeing this post) for the same package and it was $1,223.97. Looks like for me it was better to book way early but who knows if that is always the case.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by pitroad

Looks like for me it was better to book way early but who knows if that is always the case.

Exactly.
Previously, the general rule of thumb was to book about 6 months early, and/or be vigilant and book whenever the spring/holiday sales began showing up.

Last year it just seemed as if all the rules were thrown out the window.

We did do well last spring with our Continental fare to Europe, and did well again with our fare to NOLA for Halloween--but these days I just keep looking all the time, for me and anyone else that I know has a trip coming up.

There still might be a really good Christmas fare out there.

[Wingfoot]

Right after midnight , about ten years ago I caught a British Airways JFK to London for $20 as did others in the 15 minutes before they caught it and BA honored it.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by Wingfoot

Right after midnight , about ten years ago I caught a British Airways JFK to London for $20 as did others in the 15 minutes before they caught it and BA honored it.

Yeah, we did something similar for our honeymoon.
Those mistakes are great, but if we depended on those we'd never go anywhere.
But I do agree about early morning bookings. I've booked some fantastic BA (and other airlines) fares early in the morning.
OTOH
Some people swear by LastMinute.com.

[mdlee3]

Generally speaking, the cost is going to go up as you get closer to the days you want to fly on. It will continue this way until maybe the last week or so before the flight and then you MAY find some last minute deals.

It is always best though to book your trip as soon as you possibly can though. I've booked up to 8 months early and yes, I've missed out on some deals that the airlines offered afterwards, but at least I know I had a flight and a room.

[BlueWillowPlate]

How timely...
Holiday Travelers Who Wait to Book Flights May Pay More
Last year, procrastinators were rewarded when they finally got around to booking flights for holiday travel. Back then, airlines were not prepared for the sharp falloff in travel and offered last-minute deals to fill up empty planes.