new years airfare - buy now or wait? (cost, hotels, estate)

[greasycheeseburgers]

Holy Crapoli airfare for New Years is almost as much as Christmas. Any thoughts on whether it will go up or down? I'm not even planning on going anywhere good, all lame midest spots, and tickets are like $400 without taxes and fees.

[allforcats]

Check the commodities markets: the barrel price of oil isn't going to get lower, so the airlines' cost for jet fuel won't be going down.
If I were you, I'd buy my tickets, be happy I can actually afford to fly away for a vacation when over a million people have lost their jobs in 2008, and then put my attention to something else. From one who has invested successfully in the stock market and real estate market for decades: trying to get in "at the bottom" is a loser's game. An extra $50 or $150 you can always find by tightening somewhere else, right? Buy. Enjoy. Look forward!

[momof2dfw]

I had been watching the airfares for Thanksgiving since July. They went down a few weeks ago so I booked our trip to Orlando (Disney) then. I've also been watching the fares for Spring Break for the last 3 weeks. They have actually gone down and some flights are already SOLD OUT! I still haven't booked it but I did find a lower fare yesterday if we are willing to change planes but the way it is looking now that is our only option since the few nonstops are sold out or only the higher priced fares left.

When I booked the Orlando trip I noticed that American had restructered their fares. When you are pricing it out make sure to check the "by price" box so you can see every flight and the price for each one. There are tabs across the top that tell you the lowest fare for the previous and following days. Makes planning and research MUCH EASIER!

I really don't think they are going to go down now. Southwest has had their fares thru March 6 out for awhile and just last week went ahead and priced out thru May.

All airlines notice if flights are selling or not and adjust accordingly. If the flights are selling fine w/ the current prices they won't change them to a lower price. By looking to see how many seats are available when your looking at the flights your interested in you will be able to tell if they are selling or not. Also by the price levels left that are available.

I look at the airlines websites, expedia, travelocity, hotels.com, bestfares.com, etc and so far the airlines prices thru their own websites have been just as low if not lower. Pricing out an entire vacation has been cheaper thru the airlines sites as well.

[BlueWillowPlate]

When to buy has always been a tricky game, but it seems trickier than ever now.
You can sign up at Farecompare.com and other sites as well, but the bottom line is, sooner or later you have to go for it.
Momof2 that's interesting that Southwest already has its May fares set.
I was waiting to book our (spring 2009) France trip, got antsy and finally went ahead and bought tickets.
Part of the reason was what you mentioned, that flights were already filling up.

[CRock]

Airlines are parking planes right and left. There are fewer seats available. I would lock in now as the closer you get there will be fewer seats & a higher the price. New Years is less than 2 months away!

[$DFW8$]

I would definitely go ahead and book the tickets now. I am originally from NYC(still have a lot of friends and family there) but live in Dallas now and we spend Christmas here in Dallas and then fly up to NYC the day after Christmas and stay through New Year's. I booked our flights like a month ago and got a pretty good price. If you don't book soon, then you are going to have a hard time getting a flight. The Holidays are a busy season for air travel, so seats go fast.