When is the best time to book airfare?

Katmom · #1 (**permalink**) March 27th, 2008, 08:40 PM

We are booked on the Imagination the week of Jan 12,2009. I have been on various websites, Priceline, Orbitz, ect. We are flying from Detroit to either Miami or Ft Lauderdale, whichever is the better deal. I am finding airfares between 300-400 dollars. This seems high to me.

Should I wait till closer to the cruise date? Is there a good place to go for air prices?

Cruisebunny7 · #2 (**permalink**) March 27th, 2008, 10:40 PM

If you are flying from DTW try Spirit Airlines, they have very cheap tickets. They do alot of vacation/charter flights, but one of my friends is a flight attendant with them, and she loves them. They fly new Airbus jets, go check out thier website....www.spiritair.com

cruisecouple · #3 (**permalink**) March 27th, 2008, 11:13 PM

as soon as you see that you can book an inexpensive airfare with the way fuel costs are going..... I would start looking now. I bought my airfare through Continental in early November for a cruise May 4th and the only change has been that my flight is leaving 5 minutes earlier.

MJM · #4 (**permalink**) March 28th, 2008, 03:43 PM

We are flying from Detroit to Miami first week of February in 2009 to sail on the Destiny. Prices are in the 400 to 500 dollar range right now for that time. I checked Spirit, but they are not booking past Oct/08 yet. I hate to book with prices that high, but I'm afraid prices might only go higher.

dina · #5 (**permalink**) March 28th, 2008, 03:56 PM

Keep an eye on Northwest. I get good deals through them since we're a hub here in Detroit.

MJM · #6 (**permalink**) March 28th, 2008, 04:04 PM

Northwest is the first airline we always check. We are used to paying a bit more for direct flights, but their prices have really jumped this month. When I checked this morning, they wanted $506. I check every day hoping to catch a reduction.

Joe323 · #7 (**permalink**) March 28th, 2008, 04:39 PM

Sadly I think the days of really cheap airfares may be over. I would suggest trying travelzoo.com though

johnsmom · #8 (**permalink**) March 28th, 2008, 06:31 PM

I think that Southwest is the cheapest.

ncstate7991 · #9 (**permalink**) March 28th, 2008, 07:18 PM

I think the best time to look is right after Southwest releases their schedule and fares for those dates. They usually have 4-6 months worth of fares for sale. If you find something cheap go for it, but sometimes the SW affect holds true to prices.