When to book?

[princessmia]

I've never personally booked a flight before, so I have questions (obviously, haha.)
Planning on the date in March, wondering when would be the best time to book, or if there is a certain time before the flight date where the tickets would be possibly cheaper?
The cheapest flight I've found from Vancouver to St. Louis is around 458 or something like that including taxes.
I guess this is a general question about booking flights and what you need to know, because I've only flown once and that was when I was like 14? haha.
I know that if you book sooner you get better seating and everything. Maybe I'm curious is if there is a secret to it, and with most of you being pros at frequent flying, I thought I'd ask.

(Not sure if there is a post like this already, I apologize if there is x])

[noodle]

As far as I know the sooner you book the bigger is the chance it's cheap ^^
Than it depends when you're intending to fly. You said March, that's around the Easter holidays so I guess it's not as cheap as if you'd go turin a time with no holidays etc
Uhm other than that... maybe just google and compare different flight prices.
That's about it I guess dunno haha

[princessmia]

As far as I know the sooner you book the bigger is the chance it's cheap ^^
Than it depends when you're intending to fly. You said March, that's around the Easter holidays so I guess it's not as cheap as if you'd go turin a time with no holidays etc
Uhm other than that... maybe just google and compare different flight prices.
That's about it I guess dunno haha

Haha thanks. I feel dumb when it comes to this stuff because it's mostly obvious x)
And the time is the soonest we can meet--Spring Break.
I would like to book now, but we still don't have enough money yet and a couple other things need to be taken care of, unfortunately.

[Kimme]

Thursdays are the cheapest day to fly out on. Also use kayak.com. It let's you book multiple planes blah blah blah. Also if you do not have the money to book yet about 8 weeks before is the best time. Earlier the better but 8 weeks is a close call. I want to fly around the same time and I'm looking at flights daily looking at updates. When it says only four seats remain. Its usually a scare tatic. Hope it works out for you!

[Zephii]

Book as early as you can. The fuller the plane gets, the more each seat seems to be worth. Closer to the date of flying the price can rise by a hundred bucks or more in just a couple of days.

[princessmia]

Book as early as you can. The fuller the plane gets, the more each seat seems to be worth. Closer to the date of flying the price can rise by a hundred bucks or more in just a couple of days.

eee. =/
thanks. i'll keep that in mind.

[faith5x5nomore]

I found Tues and Thursdays to be the cheapest days to fly. As far as booking ahead I learned the hard way that you should book early... I am planning on flying to Florida in January and have been pricing tickets for weeks and everytime I search the same exact flights go up in price every few days.

[Silviar]

Usually the sooner the better, especially for overseas flights. However, if you need to hold up waiting to reserve until you've got some schedule things ironed out, waiting for 4-5 months beforehand should net you pretty close to the same flight cost since March isn't exactly holiday rush time. Especially to St. Louis. :P

[Silviar]

And by overseas, I mean international. Derp!

[SunshinetoApple04]

my boyfriend swears up and down the prices drop right before so that the airlines can just sell the tickets they havent sold yet... I believe this is total BS. lol my advice is to book as early as possible but thats just me.

[Caitlin2009]

i know i had to book my flight last month because if i didnt and i waited until now to do it the prices would have been a little too high considering its really close to christmas and everybody wants to fly to there family and friends for the holidays, so yeah book it ASAP the closer you get to your date the more expensive its gonna be. Just for laughs i look at the prices on airlines now through kayak.com and maybe on a few days its been low to $675 but the next day it goes higher to $865 or something, so when you can i would book now!

[BabyGund]

You know, I've found it really depends....

I was looking to book a flight for the end of January. When I checked in November the price was $650 and included 3 flight changes, as well as flying into some northern (ie snowy = possible delays) airports.

I just got an alert from Expedia that the price for that same trip is $585, with only 2 plane changes and a southern (no snow, less chance of delay) route. Now if only I didn't have to use that money for my car.

I am hoping it will still be available in a week.

[Čternity]

Varies by season, but in general try to book 2 months out, I've found can be some of the best fares.

[TknandLvnIt]

It does vary like everyone said umm kayak has an option for a price alert and so do a lot of other sites where they will notify you daily on the price. A lot of times it drops or goes up around the holidays. Two to three months in advance is usually best. Priceline has the name your own price option but the times are up in the air which sucks but if that works for you it can be pretty cheap. One thing that's great now is that orbitz and a lot of other sites offer a price adjustment so if the price on your flight drops you could get a refund of the difference. I bought my ticket to the CT in Sept lol but that's because it was really cheap.

[Bluestars]

One thing that's great now is that orbitz and a lot of other sites offer a price adjustment so if the price on your flight drops you could get a refund of the difference.

Where is that on their website? That sounds awesome!