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When to book flights?

BlueSkies

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
That's nice!

With Southwest it's possible to change for a cheaper price later on, even for the same itinerary. But that only makes sense if you know that using a credit for $20-30 is going to be straightforward. I track prices but usually don't bother to make the effort.
Sometimes the savings can be significant. We do this- last trip we rebooked and saved close to $100 per round trip ticket.
 

Eera

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I get weirdly obsessive about booking flights; call it anticipation. As our ski trips generally involve international flights we decide where we are going two years in advance (use the trips as an excuse to visit an extra country and show to kids some culture, luckily we have our 6 week summer vacation in the northern winter so no issues with schools). I then watch the price cycle for an entire year on Skyscanner, so the next year when it's actually time to book I jump in and get the good prices.

Can't tell you how twitchy I am right now with only 7 months to go until we are supposed to be in Japan (or Korea, depending on who will let us in, one of them PLEASE) and no ticket booked.
 

Bonnie2617

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I get weirdly obsessive about booking flights; call it anticipation. As our ski trips generally involve international flights we decide where we are going two years in advance (use the trips as an excuse to visit an extra country and show to kids some culture, luckily we have our 6 week summer vacation in the northern winter so no issues with schools). I then watch the price cycle for an entire year on Skyscanner, so the next year when it's actually time to book I jump in and get the good prices.

Can't tell you how twitchy I am right now with only 7 months to go until we are supposed to be in Japan (or Korea, depending on who will let us in, one of them PLEASE) and no ticket booked.

That’s a great tactic! I will probably have a pretty good idea of where Ill want go in 2023 soon (sticking to Ikon - perhaps Big Sky to check out another state!), so not a bad idea to see what those flights might look like.
 

diymom

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I just checked to see if AA has added back any flights that would make my choices for flying to Taos any easier. Alas, not yet. And of course no guarantee that they will add back the flights that I usually take. I'm comparing departure and arrival times, layover time and location, and miles needed. Currently there is no ideal combination of the above. Some flights I have no idea why they are even given as an option with layover times under 45 minutes. But I think I might book something soon just to have lower miles/ price locked in, and then keep an eye on things to see if a better itinerary is added later on.
 

Pequenita

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Something to keep in mind if you've never booked a flight 6 months or so in advance is that your flight schedule will likely change on one end or the other. The day will stay the same, but in my experience, there is always one flight that has shifted from anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or more.
 

liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I've had one leg of a connecting flight moved so that there was no way I could bodily make the next flight, much less my bags and my skis. So frustrating.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Hopefully won't be as bad during the upcoming winter, but pretty clear that flights schedules have been changing far more than usual in the past year. Difference is more likely due to the addition of flights in the next 6-9 months. As opposed to the cancellation of flights, as happened last winter.
 

teppaz

Angel Diva
Hopefully won't be as bad during the upcoming winter, but pretty clear that flights schedules have been changing far more than usual in the past year. Difference is more likely due to the addition of flights in the next 6-9 months. As opposed to the cancellation of flights, as happened last winter.
Flights have been changing constantly this spring and summer.
And then there is everything else. My current trip to Colorado has been epic. At 2am JetBlue cancelled my 7am outbound from NYC and rebooked me on a 1:20pm. It took me an hour to realize it was 1:20pm *the following day*! I had work appointments and couldn’t leave that late so I had to buy another o/w (thank you, Southwest). I’ll spare you the car-rental mayhem in Denver.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to use the airline app. It’s a lot more efficient than the phone or website.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
I cannot stress enough how important it is to use the airline app. It’s a lot more efficient than the phone or website.
I always book flights directly with an airline, not a third party website. While I don't always use the app because I prefer being on a desktop, there are times when I use the app on my phone while I'm actually traveling. Like when I need to check in on Southwest for my return flight . . . at a time that I'm skiing.

While I often pay extra for Early Bird check in for Southwest at the start of a ski trip, I usually don't when heading home. Boarding early assures that there will be room for my carry-on boot bag in an overhead near whatever seat I choose. If I have a tight connection, I can sit closer to the front. On the way home, I don't mind gate checking the boot bag now that the boots are a few years old. If it's at all likely to happen, I take out the custom footbeds and have those in my carry on backpack.

Flights have been changing constantly this spring and summer.
And then there is everything else. My current trip to Colorado has been epic. At 2am JetBlue cancelled my 7am outbound from NYC and rebooked me on a 1:20pm. It took me an hour to realize it was 1:20pm *the following day*! I had work appointments and couldn’t leave that late so I had to buy another o/w (thank you, Southwest). I’ll spare you the car-rental mayhem in Denver.
Ick! Hope your return flight is uneventful.
 

teppaz

Angel Diva
I always book flights directly with an airline, not a third party website. While I don't always use the app because I prefer being on a desktop, there are times when I use the app on my phone while I'm actually traveling. Like when I need to check in on Southwest for my return flight . . . at a time that I'm skiing.

While I often pay extra for Early Bird check in for Southwest at the start of a ski trip, I usually don't when heading home. Boarding early assures that there will be room for my carry-on boot bag in an overhead near whatever seat I choose. If I have a tight connection, I can sit closer to the front. On the way home, I don't mind gate checking the boot bag now that the boots are a few years old. If it's at all likely to happen, I take out the custom footbeds and have those in my carry on backpack.


Ick! Hope your return flight is uneventful.
Yeah, I never book through a third party either. Well, except for carrentalsavers.com, which I use a lot. Speaking of car rental: I’ve been very pleased with the service at Sixt in Denver.
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
I booked a flight March 2020 from Toronto to Tampa in April. Well as we all know, it didn't go a long with many more. I put insurance on the flight. I've been fighting with the insurance company since August. So coming up on a year. I bought everything through my RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) Avion points. The airline company is refunding the flights, not just giving credits, (which I already have). But you have to go back to who ever you bought your ticket from. So RBC Avion is that. Not sure what I'll do next time...
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Yeah, I never book through a third party either. Well, except for carrentalsavers.com, which I use a lot. Speaking of car rental: I’ve been very pleased with the service at Sixt in Denver.
For renting an SUV, I started using Costco Travel. Rates are quite good. Bonus is that can have a second driver for free.

Had to pay a little more to guarantee AWD when renting at the Denver airport. For Albuquerque, couldn't reserve an AWD SUV. It's a matter of luck if one happens to be at the lot.
 

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