Best Time To Book For January '10 Travel

[multisync]

Hi guy's

we're looking to book hotels and flights to Phuket around 16th jan for 2 weeks.

When is the best time to book flights and hotels for the best deals considering the time we hope to travel. I have emailed a few hotels and they all have rooms available as are the flights. Is it best/cheapest to travel weekends or during the week etc?

With times being hard would you suggest the best deals are to be had early (ie nowish) or should I play the game and book after Christmas?

Any help and advice most welcome

Cheers

Richard

[Brigante7]

Hi guy's

we're looking to book hotels and flights to Phuket around 16th jan for 2 weeks.

When is the best time to book flights and hotels for the best deals considering the time we hope to travel. I have emailed a few hotels and they all have rooms available as are the flights. Is it best/cheapest to travel weekends or during the week etc?

With times being hard would you suggest the best deals are to be had early (ie nowish) or should I play the game and book after Christmas?

Any help and advice most welcome

Cheers

Richard

Personaly I would book it when you find a price you like because sod's law says that no matter when you book it it will drop in price the next day or if you leave it until the next day it will go up in price.

Brigante7.

[badcdn]

For flights, there are usually good fares around 3 months before I fly. The longer you wait, like six weeks before, the lower fares start to sell out and usually you're left with the more expensive fares. Major Airlines usually don't sell off seats at the last minute and January is high season, demand is usually higher.

Hotels, the same. Agoda had some good rates but I waited too long. Could have had a room for $30/night, hummed and hawed, now the same room is going for $49. Same with my flight, ended up paying more because I waited too long, but still I got a better deal than last time.

It pays to shop around.

Read the hotel reviews too - Trip Advisor, Agoda are a few and with airfares, check the fare rules. I can be cheaper to fly on weekdays, but not always and the lower fares come with many restrictions. I payed a higher fare in case I need to get a refund or change days.

Check out this site for flights.

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/

I use the 'Month Long' search. Enter the airport info, number of nights away and your home airport in the 'Sales Office' box to get fares quoted in your local currency. I like this because it shows which airlines fly where I 'm going, and the fare differences depending on the day of the week.

I also check each airlines website as well. I've found sometimes they offered lower fares that didn't come up on the ITA search, like EVA, China Airlines, Air China. Again depends on who flies from your home airport to Phuket.

You can't buy tickets through this site but they tell you where you can on the results page after you click 'Show Booking Details', scroll down to 'Booking Details, i.e. Travel agent, on the airlines website or call airline.

Personally I stay away from the booking sites like Travelocity and Expedia. They're not cheap and if there is a problem, the airlines will only deal with them, I found out the hard way. I would rather deal with the airline directly or a reputable travel agent. The less hoops the better if there is a problem.

Hope this helps.

Edited September 20, 2009 by badcdn