Booking flights, do prices go up or down as the date approaches?

@vivasuzi (4127)
United States
February 2, 2008 11:32am CST
I was holding off on booking my May vacation, waiting for the prices of the hotel to go down since I know they will. Yet I'm getting nervous b/c I just rechecked flights and they prices have gone up a lot. So what do you guys think? If I wait til March to book flights, will I be screwed and end up paying more? Or if I wait til March will I end up getting a better deal? I'd love to hear from anyone with experience with this type of situation.
1 person likes this
6 responses
• United States
2 Feb 08
The only time you are going to get a great deal on a flight is when they have one isle seat left for a flight that leaves within 48 hours. I have learned it is the cheapest to fly on Tuesdays or Wednesdays but Tuesdays is the cheapest cheapest and the longer you wait the more you will pay. Sure the price may fluctuate between now and then but not by enough to make it really worth the time and stress I have caused myself by waiting. Book now my dear. You won't be sorry. Last year I booked my August vacation in March. I made a killing.
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@vivasuzi (4127)
• United States
4 Feb 08
Thanks for the tips. We are leaving on a Sunday, I checked Saturday prices and they were higher. No way for us to leave any other day but the weekend. I plan to book it this week, I promise :) The only thing is the rosort prices are definitely gonna go down b/c every month I look, it goes down, and it is a significant amount!! So I'm still gonna book the flight and then just keep checking the hotel daily and book it when I see a deal OR when I feel I am running out of time.
@rsilva708 (172)
• United States
2 Feb 08
I have travled a lot, and in general, the cost of flights will go up the closer you get to the departure date, untill right before the flight. I have booked flights the day before I was going somewhere, and got a great deal, but you also run the risk of the flight being sold out. An airline would rather sell an empty seat with a deep discount than fly the plane with empty seats, but you normally do not see these great deals till the last minute. This is also normally true of hotels rooms. Good luck with the planning of your trip.
@vivasuzi (4127)
• United States
2 Feb 08
Ok, I think I will just book the flight as soon as I can. The hotel, I will not. I know for a fact the prices of this hotel always go down when you wait until about 2 months before. They always have last minute deals. Currently the prices for this hotel in March are less than half the price for May b/c they aren't selling out very well. So I know if I wait til March, the prices won't go up. They might stay the same, but they won't go up. Hopefully they go down!!
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@wisedragon (2325)
• Philippines
3 Feb 08
From my experience prices will go up with time. There are also discounts at the last minute, but you should only do that when there are many flights available. That way you don't run the risk of running out of seats.
@maximax8 (31055)
• United Kingdom
3 Feb 08
I think that charter flights often get cheaper nearer the date of travel. I have got some cheap flights this way but at popular times of the year all the seats are likely to sell out. Scheduled flights tend to be cheap when a few seats are sold then the price goes up and up as more tickets are sold. So I only wait around for cheap charter flights. Package deals often have attractive prices for last minute travel. Last year we went to Portugal and the flight prices were going up and up so we booked. In the days before we went the price would have been sky high. Where are you planning to go for your vacation?
1 person likes this
@vivasuzi (4127)
• United States
4 Feb 08
I checked the package deal price for this resort and the flight was way higher than if I book myself. Plus, sometimes I'm worried about that b/c I've heard people who had booked all at once and then something went wrong with the flight because the resort didn't book it right. I'm not familiar with Charter flights at all, so I think I'll stick to scheduled flights. We are going to the Bahamas and right now I see a price of $577 round trip for 2 as the best after checking every airline I know! So I think I should just book it.
• Canada
3 Feb 08
It really varies. Typically flight prices go up the closer to the flight date. But if it's close to the flight date and there are still seats available, then prices might go down during a seat sale in a final attempt to sell out the flight. I find it's really hard to predict flight prices. In most cases, I book as early as possible, and have always got the best price doing it that way. Often once I buy my ticket, I'll check the prices down the road - and they always go up. I guess it also depends where you're flying to. Some destinations may have more seat sales than others - making last minute ticket purchases cheap.
@vivasuzi (4127)
• United States
4 Feb 08
I normally book earlier than this. I booked my honeymoon flights a year early! But this trip just came up kind of last minute so I didn't know what to do. Thanks for your tips, I'll make sure to lock in the flights asap.
@jhl930 (3601)
• United States
3 Feb 08
I think that if you order them really early you could get them at a better price..I know this to be a fact for buses and I think that I have heard that its the same with airplane tickets...I think if you were to go ahead and get the tickets now you should be able to get a better deal because if it gets much closer to time you will have to pay more because airports know that some people wait until the "last minute"to get their plane tickets and they also know that they want the tickets no matter how much they might cost!