32 replies to this topic

[Kendo UK]

I am looking at booking up again in April but I was having a look at flight prices and on average it's about 5000b more expensive then I paid to fly at the end of October. Experimenting with dates it worked out a lot cheaper to fly next weekend.

I don't like leaving it right upto the last minute but would I better off looking at flight prices with about 6-8 weeks before my departure date?

[Lost In Loei]

Yes. They have to factor in big fuel and currency risk that far out and they do not know what the bookings are going to be yet. As they get closer to the flight date, the prices will drop and start going up about 3 weeks before the flight if it looks like the plane will be pretty full. My experience is that the best prices are 3-6 weeks before leaving, depending on how sales are going.

[Robi_slo]

Do like I did. As soon as you have you general ETA and money for the ticket check prices on http://flights.idealo.co.uk/ (or for us on continent http://flug.idealo.de/ ) and buy ticket first second you see it at right price.

Also check sites from Qatar and Emirates for some 2-3 day sales (Qatar just finished one where you could get ticket for 25% off).

But general rule is sooner you buy ticket the better.Once I bought ticket 8 months in advance and got it for 480 EUR for New Year trip... but then again for my second trip I got it 1 week or so before departure due to some f.. up on Finnair site: ticket was at offer one time 200 EUR cheaper than average... I still don't know why but I bought it next second and had to think of an excuse why I must go there later ... it depends.


BR

[Lost In Loei]

Robi_slo, on 20 November 2011 - 06:04 PM, said:

Do like I did. As soon as you have you general ETA and money for the ticket check prices on http://flights.idealo.co.uk/ (or for us on continent http://flug.idealo.de/ ) and buy ticket first second you see it at right price.

Also check sites from Qatar and Emirates for some 2-3 day sales (Qatar just finished one where you could get ticket for 25% off).

But general rule is sooner you buy ticket the better.Once I bought ticket 8 months in advance and got it for 480 EUR for New Year trip... but then again for my second trip I got it 1 week or so before departure due to some f.. up on Finnair site: ticket was at offer one time 200 EUR cheaper than average... I still don't know why but I bought it next second and had to think of an excuse why I must go there later ... it depends.


BR

There are some good points here. Sometimes they offer sales to pump the cash early a little. Some sites have fair tracking where you can pick a destination and it will e-mail you when there is a price change of a certain magnatude. Those sale times also happen when they are opening the flight up to consolidators and tour operators. Be ready to move if you see a super low price though because they frequently only last a few hours.

[Tomas]

I booked a flight with Emirates just last week for the 11th of April. Paid 659euro off ebookers and the very next day they went up to 702euro.

I have always thought as more seats are sold the price goes up for the remaining seats.

My advice would be to book as soon as possible. You would be taking a chance hoping that there will be a few empty seats 3-6 weeks before departure on sale.

Is it really worth the risk just to save 5000baht?

[duke007]

Interesting thread, for my last trip in October I booked my Flight with Etihad from Manchester (UK) a few months in advance for £550 and they stayed the same price until 1 week before my depature.

Ive been looking at a Flight for February and the prices were £820 (Etihad) a couple of weks ago.
They have now dropped down to £720 so heres hoping they drop and drop again, when/IF they come down to £560-600 I will snap it up.

I can get Flights for that money now but the "stopovers" are killers, thats why I prefer Etihad as the Flights times are perfect, the stopovers short and the service excellent

Edited by duke007, 20 November 2011 - 08:58 PM.

[luv u long time]

This is always a much debated issue. The advice from all persons in the travel industry is sooner the better due to the pricing structure of the seats (ie the first 50 seats sold are priced at the cheapest rate, then it goes to say 150 seats at a slightly higher rate, then up to the next higher rate, and so on).

However, what you can't rely on is an airline running a promo.

I have found that annual promo's are generally made for low season periods and are normally released for purchase around 3 months before the period of travel in low season.

To the OP, I too am travelling in April, and paid £780 with Emirates. I booked this a few months ago. BY FAR the most expensive ticket I have booked to LOS after 18 years of regular flying. Previous to that, the most expensive ticket was about £630.

[Solice]

I am starting to believe that Emirates and Etihad have a price fixing structure going on between them.

Been looking at flights over a substantial peroid and it always seems that for 1 month Emirates is cheapish and Etihad more expensive, a month or two down the line the roles are reversed and it goes on like this over a long time.

Ive even looked at next year for Feb, Emirates are £650, Etihad are £820 then they alternate, something is defo going on between these two airlines.

[garrydirty]

got Emirates for £545 leaving Jan 10th to Feb 9th now i always fly with them as i am a skywards member and points add up good with 4 to 5 trips each year over the last few years as my flight dates can be fexiable i have always found traveling mid-week and returning mid-week can usually get me a cheaper ticket and i always book in advance usually with-in 2 weeks return ov my last trip!! Them LOS blues hurt to much so booking as soon as i get back helps as i am thinking about the next trip Regards Garry

[Stealth007]

@Solice

Yes , they must have a fixed price structure , other wise they will not survive in this airline world , Because they both are station in the same country UAE
Emirates have his base in Dubai , while Etihad in Abu Dhabi......
It`s a fix deal that have been impose by the goverment to keep them in balance.......


Greetz , Stealth

[Kendo UK]

sixtyeightplusone, on 20 November 2011 - 06:15 PM, said:

I booked a flight with Emirates just last week for the 11th of April. Paid 659euro off ebookers and the very next day they went up to 702euro.

I am looking at around 4th April to fly out (before the bank holiday weekend), Emirates would definitely be preferable as I used them on my most recent trip.

duke007, on 20 November 2011 - 08:51 PM, said:

I can get Flights for that money now but the "stopovers" are killers, thats why I prefer Etihad as the Flights times are perfect, the stopovers short and the service excellent

stopover with Emirates was ok for me, about 3/4 hours.

garrydirty, on 20 November 2011 - 10:13 PM, said:

got Emirates for £545 leaving Jan 10th to Feb 9th now i always fly with them as i am a skywards member and points add up good with 4 to 5 trips each year over the last few years as my flight dates can be fexiable i have always found traveling mid-week and returning mid-week can usually get me a cheaper ticket and i always book in advance usually with-in 2 weeks return ov my last trip!! Them LOS blues hurt to much so booking as soon as i get back helps as i am thinking about the next trip Regards Garry

I am with Skywards but for some reason I couldn't add my flights to the account so the miles counted. I paid about £660 this time flying out on a Friday and coming back on a Saturday. I reckon I could go on a Wednesday next time but prices are showing about £720 at the moment.

strangely the blues haven't hit me this time (YET!), every time I even get the slightest bit down I just think of some of the crazy stuff I did that fortnight or look at a photo and I'm happy as Larry again.

[robw]

I booked an Emirates flight last week for March 9th.I like to get everything sorted early so I don't have to worry about things at the last minute.

[Tony Soprano]

I look at the seat chart to see how ,any seats are taken. If the plane is still mostly empty,
I'll wait to see if they get desperate to fill seats. If it's close to full I'll buy it then thinking
the price won't drop much. Right now I can get the Korean Air flight to LOS for about
$120 US than I just paid for my Nov trip. But, I won't know for sure what dates I'll
get for my 2012 vacations yet so I'll have to wait. I should know this week.

[Pad thai boy]

Kendo wrote:
II am with Skywards but for some reason I couldn't add my flights to the account so the miles counted. I paid about £660 this time flying out on a Friday and coming back on a Saturday. I reckon I could go on a Wednesday next time but prices are showing about £720 at the moment.

Kendo.
I had the same thing with Thai. Signed up with their airmile club, but it turns out that certain catagories of ticket do not qualify for airmiles.
You need to check when booking. You might not get the miles and the discount.
To get the air miles on Thai I would have had to pay an additional £100
It seems they discount to get you in.
Even BA are now not including uk air tax on their air miles programe in the future. (not certain of date)

Edited by Pad thai boy, 21 November 2011 - 12:40 AM.

[garrydirty]

when u log on to skywards u can claim back airmiles that u aint claimed? just send them an e-mail... with the dates u traveled and the miles u wish to claim back... they should get back to u in a few days..... Good Luck..............Regards Garry.....

[sir d]

Travel agents claim you can get best prices 3 to 4 weeks prior to departure. But I am sure there are plenty of exceptions.

[Slacker]

I don't think there's any surefire method to getting the cheapest fare...you have to set a acceptable price beforehand and buy when it gets close. It is an unwritten law that, as soon as you book your flight someone will draw your attention to a better offer. I normally book up to 6 months in advance and set up a 'fare alert' on Kayak to track and compare prices - they send you a weekly alert which tracks most airlines for your chosen dates. I can't afford to wait until last minute and then not be able to source a flight for my exact dates. It has been a mixed bag this year with minimal fluctuations for my dates (I missed the best price, but only paid £15 more) and in recent months Thai Airways have dropped their prices drastically.

[Kendo UK]

Pad thai boy, on 21 November 2011 - 12:39 AM, said:

I had the same thing with Thai. Signed up with their airmile club, but it turns out that certain catagories of ticket do not qualify for airmiles.
You need to check when booking. You might not get the miles and the discount.

garrydirty, on 21 November 2011 - 12:51 AM, said:

when u log on to skywards u can claim back airmiles that u aint claimed? just send them an e-mail... with the dates u traveled and the miles u wish to claim back... they should get back to u in a few days..... Good Luck..............Regards Garry.....

I have got a feeling that because I booked via Netflights that maybe the Airmiles would be excluded from Skywards.

[MrMercury]

KendoUK, on 21 November 2011 - 04:28 AM, said:

I have got a feeling that because I booked via Netflights that maybe the Airmiles would be excluded from Skywards.

I booked with Netflights last year and Etihad credited me the miles so am sure you should be ok.

MM.

[garrydirty]

have booked loads ov flights through diffrent sites southhall, netflights,holiday genie, ebookers, etc etc and always had my airmiles once u have had conformation ov ur flight...u log-on to skywards put in ur ref ov fight which usually a mix ov 4 letter and two numbers.... then you go on to mange ur flight ..... which has info on what airmiles are made to u on said flight... u can also pick your seat for said flight so sometimes earlier the better, and thats ALL ur flights outward and return... u can even pick what kind ov meal u wish ie veg glutton free low cab etc etc........ Theres alot ov benifits to being a skywards member just take abit ov time with it all when u log on and u reap the rewards to make ur flight more enjoyable.... Regards Garry