How soon do you buy airline tickets?

[Rumrunner]

Hi boardies, my husband and I are treating our family to a trip to Negril next March. That means I have to purchase 8 tickets leaving from three different airports. It's not going to be easy to have everyone arrive around the same time but that's the least of my worries. When it's just the two of us I usually buy 3 months before we leave. What would you do? Any thoughts or tips would be appreciated.

[Jamerican71]

I almost always fly Southwest so I purchase as soon as they open -- about 6 months before my trip. I then watch it daily for price drops.

I use this site for finding tickets: https://matrix.itasoftware.com/ You can't book from the site but it gives you lots of information about flights. There are some airlines like Spirit and Southwest that will not show up.

[captaind & Linston]

Hi boardies, my husband and I are treating our family to a trip to Negril next March. That means I have to purchase 8 tickets leaving from three different airports. It's not going to be easy to have everyone arrive around the same time but that's the least of my worries. When it's just the two of us I usually buy 3 months before we leave. What would you do? Any thoughts or tips would be appreciated.

I second Jamerican71's recommendation

SWA has no fee for changing flights except for any change in fare between the dates.

Your money is tied up but can be used within one year of the original ticket

I've been flying on SW points for the last 12 flights. Very convenient

BTW. The best day to check fares on SW is Wednesday.......

Cap

[sammyb]

I usually purchase about 60 days out

[Ras Walleye]

Once I have travel dates I start checking a couple times a week. I also set up fare alerts at sites like kayak and Orbitz.
When I find a number I like I buy. Have gotten good deals 6-9 months out and just as good 3 months out and under 30 days. Get a feel for prices and wait for a number you can live with.

[sher]

Once I have travel dates I start checking a couple times a week. I also set up fare alerts at sites like kayak and Orbitz.
When I find a number I like I buy.

I do the same thing, but I could never get too close to a trip date without buying! I just don't feel comfortable unless I have my tickets booked. Fortunately we can fly SW from BWI to JA, so we get direct flights and can rebook if the price drops. The piece of mind from knowing my flight is booked is priceless!

[Mike_D]

I use this site for finding tickets: https://matrix.itasoftware.com/ You can't book from the site but it gives you lots of information about flights. There are some airlines like Spirit and Southwest that will not show up.

Matrix is a must for analyzing the prices from multiple airlines. Matrix was recently purchased by Google and has become Google Flights. Same information, but with a much slicker interface:

https://www.google.com/flights/?f=0

[Jamerican71]

The other thing I do is price out one-way tickets. I have found that you can sometimes buy it cheaper. The savings might be small but when you multiply that savings by the number of tickets you have to buy then it can make a big difference.

[Rumrunner]

Thanks, everyone!

[wrtiii]

The other thing I do is price out one-way tickets. I have found that you can sometimes buy it cheaper.

Have you seen that within the past 18 months? Airline practices on this have changed.