Assuming the dates of travel are not liable to change, is it best to

a) buy a ticket months in advance, say, 4 months in advance, locking in to a guaranteed price? Am I right in thinking this tactic would avoid price increases due to oil price rises etc. and should get you the cheapest class of tickets on offer at the time?

wait until about 6 weeks before the departure date, keeping a keen eye out for promotional fares? Most promotional fares don't seem to be offered for departures 4 to 5 months in the future.

What would be your tactic in the current environment of a rising trend in oil prices?

If you speak about Europe/Asia routes... I would suggest you to read this article (from the daily Le Figaro, translated in english).

It's very enlightning.

The core idea of the article :

-there is a global SHORTAGE of airplanes of new generation (due to the several delays from Airbus and Boeing)

-airlines have problem to cope with the rising demand

-especially on the popular routes (like Europe/Asia)

-they have to rent airplanes (expensive)

-or to use the old airplanes (costly because they consume a lot of fuel)

-therefore, the time of super promotions is finished

Very interesting article and definitely swinging me even further towards the buy now not later camp.

I see the b with a "close brackets" after it came it as an unwanted emoticon again.

Yeah, you have to use something else, like a space after the B ) Its one of the smiley shortcuts.

Anyway, as for tickets to the US, I bought mine in advance and then checked the prices nearly daily. Lowest price drop was less than $50. I might have missed the promotion, but perhaps there wasn't one after all.

Well buy now option rather than wait is prob best bet unless your travel is flexible. Last minute airfares can be seriously cheaper. I'd say do to higher fuel costs and limited schedules/popular routes I would buy now. Most airlines do refund the difference in vouchers if you do see a price change for a lower rate.

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll get it now. It'll play on my mind otherwise and I would be disappointed if I had to buy a more expensive ticket later on.

I always buy well in advance. Its a lot easier to plan that way.

However, for the first time I am actually concerned about this strategy.

I always fly Eva Air, I have flights booked in advance (November, January) with them back to the UK.

They are losing so much money at the moment (see the Eva Air thread) due to the cost of oil (124 dollars a barrel?) that for the first time I am going to check my credit card terms and conditions to see what happens if they go bust!!

If you are booking only 5 months in advance I am sure there will be no problems???

Its a bit worrying though isn't it

Well buy now option rather than wait is prob best bet unless your travel is flexible. Last minute airfares can be seriously cheaper. I'd say do to higher fuel costs and limited schedules/popular routes I would buy now. Most airlines do refund the difference in vouchers if you do see a price change for a lower rate.

What's the strategy for buying last minute tix? Isn't this rather risky given many, many flights are full these days? I know people who've had to travel at short notice and have had to pay a fortune.

I always buy well in advance. Its a lot easier to plan that way.

However, for the first time I am actually concerned about this strategy.

I always fly Eva Air, I have flights booked in advance (November, January) with them back to the UK.

They are losing so much money at the moment (see the Eva Air thread) due to the cost of oil (124 dollars a barrel?) that for the first time I am going to check my credit card terms and conditions to see what happens if they go bust!!

If you are booking only 5 months in advance I am sure there will be no problems???

Its a bit worrying though isn't it

I started a recent thread on that issue and the general consensus seems to be you're covered on a credit card as long as the flight costs over 100 quid, which it will do.

I always buy well in advance. Its a lot easier to plan that way.

However, for the first time I am actually concerned about this strategy.

I always fly Eva Air, I have flights booked in advance (November, January) with them back to the UK.

They are losing so much money at the moment (see the Eva Air thread) due to the cost of oil (124 dollars a barrel?) that for the first time I am going to check my credit card terms and conditions to see what happens if they go bust!!

If you are booking only 5 months in advance I am sure there will be no problems???

Its a bit worrying though isn't it

I started a recent thread on that issue and the general consensus seems to be you're covered on a credit card as long as the flight costs over 100 quid, which it will do.

Yes - I read that thread a couple of weeks back - very useful - and it was that thread that got me thinking. I am sure you are right,. it is just a sign of the times that it is even an issue.

Especially with EVA Air, which is not state owned and seems to be losing so much money. To complicate the issue and not relevant to this thread, I have thousands of pounds worth of Eva Air Miles - which I am now using to upgrade to Business Class just to reduce the amount I could lose!!!

I always buy well in advance. Its a lot easier to plan that way.

However, for the first time I am actually concerned about this strategy.

I always fly Eva Air, I have flights booked in advance (November, January) with them back to the UK.

They are losing so much money at the moment (see the Eva Air thread) due to the cost of oil (124 dollars a barrel?) that for the first time I am going to check my credit card terms and conditions to see what happens if they go bust!!

If you are booking only 5 months in advance I am sure there will be no problems???

Its a bit worrying though isn't it

EVA is part of a major (as in HUGE) Taiwanese transport company, so I doubt they will go bust like Oasis.

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll get it now. It'll play on my mind otherwise and I would be disappointed if I had to buy a more expensive ticket later on.

6/8 times i get just as low a price when i buy last minute, usually within 7 days of my trip. the airlines hold the prices up as high as they can for as long as they can, then sell of the remaining seats before the departure date. I usually have little advance planning time when my contracts end so I usually can only buy on short notice. Orbitz and sometimes even Expedia usually give a fine price that is close enough to long term advance purchases.

...up until the last year or so there have usually been dips in prices and "offers" but this is now the beginning of a new era of travel as others have explained,....definately do as Fred Pontins would say..."thumbs up book early"

I always buy well in advance. Its a lot easier to plan that way.

However, for the first time I am actually concerned about this strategy.

I always fly Eva Air, I have flights booked in advance (November, January) with them back to the UK.

They are losing so much money at the moment (see the Eva Air thread) due to the cost of oil (124 dollars a barrel?) that for the first time I am going to check my credit card terms and conditions to see what happens if they go bust!!

If you are booking only 5 months in advance I am sure there will be no problems???

Its a bit worrying though isn't it

EVA are part of EVERGREEN who are HUGE (big green metal boxes with "EVERGREEN" on can be seen all around the world.

If they go bust the last thing you need to worry about is your credit card - we will all be DOOMED

There is no single strategy which works for all passengers, in all classes of service, at all times between every city-pair. You really have to identify the city-pair and travel dates, then monitor pricing or ask for specific advice, which is based on past performance. Now with YQ (fuel surcharges) fees rising nearly daily, and with equipment idling/route cutbacks (more of an issue in the U.S.A. at present), it's hard to say "do this" because so much is changing so quickly.

For budget travelers it is generally best to purchase as early as possible. Waiting until the last minute might work for some but in general this is a recipe for disaster. Recognize that you must stick to your travel dates or potentially pay a significant fee to change. To date no airlines have tried to apply newer fuel surcharges to issued tickets, and I doubt they'll try, so once ticketed you will not pay any more. Some airlines offer low-price guarantees (UA for example) and allow one to re-fare to a lower-priced ticket, where it to become available due to re-allocation of inventory, taking the difference in travel credits, which can be used for future tickets.

Most airlines allocate a huge mix of economy fares across ~ 10+ buckets (Y/B/M/H/Q/V/W/S/K/L/T; from most expensive to least expensive), as the lower-priced buckets sell out you will be required to pay more for the same seat. Like everything there are exceptions. Airlines also sell lower-priced fare buckets to Consolidators, who may have inventory available even after the airline has sold a specific bucket out. (There are fewer fare buckets in business class (J/C/D/Z) and first class (F/A/P).)

One poster mentioned financial viability, and this might lead one to stick with legacy/flag carriers as these are the least likely to disappear over-night. These carriers will likely cut back on frequency, which presents its own issues of course, before closing up shop outright and leaving you both stranded and feeling light in the wallet. Ansett and Varig (crikey, a flag carrier!) are two recent cases to look at, re: handling of ticketed pax at closure.

My recent experience:

I just returned to Thailand from a European trip, cost was 31.500 Bhat: 30k for a discounted ticket on Ethihad (V fare, ticket can not be changed) and 1500 Baht for an Air asia return Udon Thani-Bangkok.

before May 1st I purchased my next trip late sept/oct online on Ethihad and Nok Air websites.

Paid 35K for Ethihad return (Q fare, valid one year), checked yesterday would cost me 41K

Paid 3200B on Nok Air, UTH-DMK cattle class, DMK-UTH Nok Plus for 30kgs baggage allowance, price today 4100B

I try to book in advance,then grit my teeth if there are "special offers" ,but with the price of fuel increasing,I think it is still better to book in advance.

Wiley Coyote

It is highly unlikely you will ever see a "last-minute" discount on airfares in Thailand. If you want to buy cheap, you should normally buy in advance - only on rare occasion does a promotion pop up within a couple of months of the dates of travel, and usually occurs when an extra flight is added to the route or if there is going to be a price rise across the board soon.

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll get it now. It'll play on my mind otherwise and I would be disappointed if I had to buy a more expensive ticket later on.

6/8 times i get just as low a price when i buy last minute, usually within 7 days of my trip. the airlines hold the prices up as high as they can for as long as they can, then sell of the remaining seats before the departure date. I usually have little advance planning time when my contracts end so I usually can only buy on short notice. Orbitz and sometimes even Expedia usually give a fine price that is close enough to long term advance purchases.

I think you are referring to ex-UK. I am ex-BKK. Thanks for your advice. The situation may be different for me, certainly in terms of websites offering cheap tickets. There are many more for ex-UK passengers.

Dam_n.

Same ticket has now dropped in price 2000 Baht.

What a bumsy on my part.

[Glossary: A bumsy is the opposite of a wisey where I'm from.]

I am very flexible with time, most of the times i book only a few days before in the extreme sometimes the same day.

But it is not really always cheaper.

With LTU i noticed that booking early is often cheaper. With Thai airways i sometimes get a last minute deal 2 tickets for the price of 1.

Sometimes booking a flight with 1 or 2 nights hotel included can be cheaper.