Europe--How far ahead would you book your own flights?

[quercus alba]

We have an NCL cruise in Italy booked for November this year.

I'm quite comfortable booking my own flights the handful of times a year I do it, almost always through Delta's site (being based here in MSP).

Was just wondering whether it's too soon to start shopping for/booking the flights now, or what you more experienced international flyers might think the optimum lead time would be to lock in the price and dates we want for travel.

TIA.

[CruiserBruce]

No, it's not too soon. You should be researching prices prior to your needed flight time. That is part of knowing when the price is good.

 

But, there IS NO MAGIC TIME...stated here many, many times. You do some research,  find a fare you can live with, book it, and don't look back.

[FlyerTalker]

And don't limit yourself to Delta flights.  DL has a fortress hub there are MSP, and prices their tickets accordingly.  Many destinations can be reached for less money by taking another carrier.

 

Those non-stop flights carry a price.

[jollyjones]

Altho' I'm a Oneworld flyer, not Delta, I have always found the best combination of price and availability to be about 9 months out for long haul flying. Once it gets down to 6 months out I usually find my choices have reduced.

NB - this was true for me pre-Covid. During Covid everything was a mess and quite unpredictable. I am finding now that it's beginning to get back to roughly how it used to be.

 

This has been my experience, yours might be different.

 

[RTR 21-0]

We booked our May 2023 flight to Rime in July 2022.  Have seen the prices double since booking.  

[Azulann]

On 1/26/2023 at 10:28 PM, CruiserBruce said:

No, it's not too soon. You should be researching prices prior to your needed flight time. That is part of knowing when the price is good.

 

But, there IS NO MAGIC TIME...stated here many, many times. You do some research,  find a fare you can live with, book it, and don't look back.

 Yes, each person knows what they are willing to pay for connivence and number of flights and layover times, they want.

We booked flights for our Viking Cruise :Stockholm to Copenhagen in June 2023, last Sept  with Delta KLM. Paid for it and have never looked back. Our flight  from MSP AMS has changed by 5 minutes a couple of weeks ago....

[MedCruise_2022]

Have booked our flight RT to Venice last January for our September 2023 land trip in Italy.

The cost of airfare for one person (for September 2023) at this time is equivalent for the airfare cost for two persons we paid in January.

I start to monitor airfare prices  to Asia/Europe at most 10-8 months in advance (Google flights, etc), and book ASAP once I find a price I am comfortable with. There is a "Hold" option with AA which I use while making some decision options.

[gregma60]

7 minutes ago, MedCruise_2022 said:

Have booked our flight RT to Venice last January for our September 2023 land trip in Italy.

The cost of airfare for one person (for September 2023) at this time is equivalent for the airfare cost for two persons we paid in January.

I start to monitor airfare prices  to Asia/Europe at most 10-8 months in advance (Google flights, etc), and book ASAP once I find a price I am comfortable with. There is a "Hold" option with AA which I use while making some decision options.

That's pretty much what I do as well.  I start 10 months out and setup trackers with several places to get daily reports.  When it hits what I think is a good price I pounce.  95% of the time I choose right and I see the prices go up and up and up.  5% I choose wrong and 2 months later it's MUCH cheaper.  Of course with many airlines if the price drops below a certain point there are ways to get the difference (minus the charge).  Also, be VERY careful.  I have noticed that if you use the same computer, the same browser, it tracks what you are watching and you will see the price increase each time you search.  That's why I use tracking companies, also have a couple of browsers where I clear the cache and cookies each time before looking.  My TA is usually VERY amazed at what fares I can get.

 

-gregma

[6rugrats]

 🤔 Maybe consider a new TA.