In article .net,
Hilary wrote:

What airlines are those? I've seen a few turd-world airlines that have
fixed fares, but in the US and Europe every airline I can think of has
fares that vary all the time, starting from high, then getting lower,
then increasing again as time gets closer.

The basic fares don't change. They have specials which come and go

My point exactly. Nobody who wants to save money books 12 months in
advance, because there will always be some sale later on when the same
flights will be selling cheaper.

As early as possible. People travelling to Australia and NZ for Christmas
and New Year often booked the moment the dates became available, otherwise
they lost the dates they wanted at the cheapest fares.

I don't believe you. The cheapest Christmas tickets to Australia and
NZ are usually sold in the spring, not previous Christmas. In any case,
you were talking about Delta. Does Delta fly to Australia or NZ?

(I've also seen people do the same for trips to Florida during the
summer: June 30th was a very popular date and savy travellers booked very
early.)

Are you saying that July is the best time to buy tickets to Florida
for next June 30? This is nonsense. Let's do a little experiment.
Give me a route to Florida. I bet that tickets on that route for June
30, 2007, will be cheaper in November than in August.

Give me a route where you think today's price for a flight in June
2007 is the best price one can possibly get, i.e., there won't be any
time between now and then when the same seat on the same flight will
be selling for less.

As I said before, it depends on the airline and route.

So I am asking you - which airline and which route? Frankly, I just
don't believe you. Buying tickets 12 months in advance makes no
sense whatsoever. It is possible that there are some Delta routes
where prices only go up, but I have yet to see them.

People with limited holiday, or with needs for specific dates,
or people booking for very busy routes will all tend to book as early as
they can.

People do all sorts of stupid things. Most people know very little
about airfare pricing and yield management. They assume that airfares
are fixed - once the cheap bucket empties out, only expensive tickets
are left. It's usually the other way around. Airlines try to sell
midpriced and expensive tickets first, then resort to sales a few
months out, then jack up prices again 21 days before the flight.