Best time to buy airline tickets?

[LindyLou]

Traveling on December 22nd back to Negril for Christmas. When is the best time to buy airline tickets? Already reserved my room and was suprised that I had a hard time finding a room for that time frame. TIA

[LivinInThe603]

my advice: watch the pricing and book at a rate ou feel is reasonable, then never look at it again. I go by what I paid the year prior as a gauge of what is reasonable. In my particular case, the flights I bought in the fall have about tripled since I bought them. It was about 5-6 months prior to my flight, which seems to be uncommon, but I paid only about $30 dollars more than last year so I felt comfortable with the pricing (plus, my airline started charging for first bag ).

[RonMon]

The best way to handle this is to know what is a good price and when you see that price pounce. I usually think about the 90 day out point the pricing is usually pretty good. After years of playing the price game though I learned that knowing what you should pay based on past experience and just grabbing when it is there is pretty solid strategy.

[gregandkelly63]

Good luck figuring that out. I always check prices every day until I book and then quit looking. There is no rhyme or reason to figuring out airfare pricing.

[TAH]

The consensus seems to be 53-54 days prior to departure, for whatever reason.

[sammyb]

The consensus seems to be 53-54 days prior to departure, for whatever reason.

but for Christmas travel I usually book early like June or July. If you can book with Southwest if the price changes you can rebook with no fee.

[EyelandGurl]

I don't know what time is the best. All I know is have the money ready when you are looking. I was just browsing for fun found a great price and by the time I had the money that price changed much higher

[CosmicMoose]

I have down 57 days for domestic flights, 171 days for international flights. Might have been from Conde Nast or some other similar publication. Also says Tuesdays are best, so the closest Tues to those timeframes is where I would check.

~Moose

[gregandkelly63]

I just checked old emails from years past. Our 2 most recent trips to Jamaica I found the best prices at 75 and 82 days from travel respectively. My best advice is to check prices daily and be ready to jump when you see a price you can live with. Like sammyb said, if you book with Southwest and find a lower price later, they will refund the difference or give you a credit for the difference depending on with price category you purchase. If it is the "wanna get away" price, the best they will do is give you a credit for your next flight within a year for the difference. Hope that helps.

[Ras Walleye]

Different sources will give you different timelines.
I start searching as soon as I have my dates set.
I set up fare alerts on sites like Kayak and Orbitz.
Also check sites like ITA Matrix or Vayama.
But I also do random searches several times a week and at odd hours.
The best fare I ever found was on a Saturday night 6 months before our trip.
Just happened to catch a 12 hour unadvertised sale.
Follow price trends and be realistic in your expectations.
Pick a number you like and when you get it or close to it, buy.
Most importantly, don't stress. You're buying tickets to paradise!