I've read conflicting reports about booking flights -- some say to do it 6 weeks ahead of time, some only 2 weeks. What is the best time to do it?
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Booking tickets - how far ahead?
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Booking tickets - how far ahead?
February 2012 -- met online
August 2012 -- he said "I love you."
April 2013 -- met in person
June 2013 -- broke up
July 2013 -- back together
August 2013 -- 2nd visit
October 20, 2013 -- He proposed!
April 22, 2014 -- Married/closed the distance!Tags: None
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I'm not sure how flights work between the US and Canada but I try to book it as far in advance as I can. The prices do fluctuate slightly but they increase in general as well.
I bought my tickets just before they jumped up around $100 in price. There was a flash sale about 3 weeks later where I would have saved around $250, but those sorts of sales cannot be predicted.
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That's another thing -- one day I check and it's $1300, another day it's $1500!! Hard to figure out the best deal. I plan on booking 6 weeks ahead then. Thanks Tooki!February 2012 -- met online
August 2012 -- he said "I love you."
April 2013 -- met in person
June 2013 -- broke up
July 2013 -- back together
August 2013 -- 2nd visit
October 20, 2013 -- He proposed!
April 22, 2014 -- Married/closed the distance!
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Originally posted by Benni View PostThat's another thing -- one day I check and it's $1300, another day it's $1500!! Hard to figure out the best deal. I plan on booking 6 weeks ahead then. Thanks Tooki!
If it's an option for you, I would also recommend trying to fly to/out of larger (cheaper) airports to save money.
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To me it seems that of course the longer in advance the cheaper it is, but up until 2 weeks is fairly flat prices, but it's getting really expensive less then 2 weeks in advance. Another thing - but not sure if it's true - is that it tends to be cheaper in the beginning of the week..
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For domestic flights, I book last minute. You can get really good deals, and if you don't the price doesn't seem to skyrocket so badly that you have to sell a kidney, but with international I always book months in advance. I mean months, sometimes six months in advance. We're going to Canada in May, and I booked last week. I got lucky with one of those flash sales as well
I try to fly during off peak seasons, leaving and returning on a weekday. If you fly on the weekend it costs you more. Not a lot more, but 100$ is better in my pocket than the airlines!Happily married to the little Canadian boy I never thought I'd meet in person
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Thank you all! I'll stick to my 6 weeks plan, and I'm going to clear all cookies on the travel sites -- that might help so they can't track my searches!February 2012 -- met online
August 2012 -- he said "I love you."
April 2013 -- met in person
June 2013 -- broke up
July 2013 -- back together
August 2013 -- 2nd visit
October 20, 2013 -- He proposed!
April 22, 2014 -- Married/closed the distance!
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I always read sooner the better for international flights, domestic wait till last minute. Also Tuesday is the day to book tickets, since the airlines release sales on Monday and by Tuesday the other airlines have adjusted their prices accordingly to be competitive. I really would not wait until the last moment for international, me and HBB did this out of necessity and it cost us 150 pounds more than it would when we had looked at prices 2 weeks before. I also like skyscanner.com for deals, me and HBB use it and it scans all sorts of other travel sites for the best price....it saves us a bit! Good luck!
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I've read the same -- to purchase them on Tuesday. I'll check out skyscanner! Thanks!February 2012 -- met online
August 2012 -- he said "I love you."
April 2013 -- met in person
June 2013 -- broke up
July 2013 -- back together
August 2013 -- 2nd visit
October 20, 2013 -- He proposed!
April 22, 2014 -- Married/closed the distance!
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I heard that if you repeatedly go to a ticket selling website and search for the same route, they track you via cookies and inflate the prices for you when you come back. That's why you should clear cookies before you look for tickets. I don't know if it's true or not but I guess it can't hurt.
In my experience generally the sooner the better. Especially when it comes to low cost carriers. However, it happened to me a few times that I rushed to buy tickets and then a couple of weeks later they were on sale. The problem is sales cannot be predicted, I tried keeping track but couldn't find a pattern tbh. By logic they should happen right after high season.
Kayak has a useful tracker keeping note of price changes for selected routes, so maybe you could look into that.
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As I stated before, I intend to clear my cookies first. I checked out Kayak a while back. Need to do it again. Thanks.February 2012 -- met online
August 2012 -- he said "I love you."
April 2013 -- met in person
June 2013 -- broke up
July 2013 -- back together
August 2013 -- 2nd visit
October 20, 2013 -- He proposed!
April 22, 2014 -- Married/closed the distance!
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I posted a question a while back about international traveling and got some helpful responses https://members.lovingfromadistance....ell-in-advance“The ties that binds us are sometimes impossible to explain. They connect us even after it seems like the ties should be broken. Some bonds defy distance and time and logic; Because some ties are simply… meant to be.” - Grey’s Anatomy
>Little Box<
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Thanks! I'll check it out!February 2012 -- met online
August 2012 -- he said "I love you."
April 2013 -- met in person
June 2013 -- broke up
July 2013 -- back together
August 2013 -- 2nd visit
October 20, 2013 -- He proposed!
April 22, 2014 -- Married/closed the distance!
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