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  #39  
Old June 27th, 2006, 06:16 AM posted to rec.travel.air
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Default Avoid Delta and Atlanta

In article , nobody wrote:

Well, peak season 2006 is cheaper 1 month in advance than shoulder
season 2007 9 months in advance. Who coulda thunk.


You need to look at more than just published fares. You need to look at
available fares.


Did you read my post? These fares are available to anyone with a
credit card. I typed in Glasgow to Orlando into a random UK travel site
(www.flights4less.co.uk), and the tickets for travel in August 2006
(August 1 through 14, presumably peak season for travel from Scotland
to Florida) are cheaper than the tickets for April 1-14.

This is not surprising at all. Cheapest tickets are usually sold
4 to 1 months before the date of travel, not 9.5 months in advance.
I am sure tickets for the same dates in April will be selling much
cheaper come January.

If you are trying to catch a LAX-SYD flight around
20-23 december, seats may be sold quickly, even though the fare still
apperas on the listings.


What is now, late June? These flights have been open for booking for
half a year now, and there is still plenty of availability between
LAX and SYD, at lowest published fares.

Qantas has every date between Dec 20 and Dec 23 available for $1900
roundtrip or so. Pricey, of course, but it's the lowest published
fare for these dates. Consolidators seem to have the same dates for
less on UA.

But travelling just before christmas, then you need to book well in advance.


Well in advance, maybe. But not 12 months in advance.

Last year it was London-Houston for July and London-Windhoek for August.


"August" is a very long period. Not a very focused number of days with a
big rush.


She asked a question, I answered. In this particular case, I had zero
flexibility on dates, and was buying my ticket 3 weeks in advance.
It wasn't a big deal - I called a few consolidators in the UK and bought
it from the cheapest one. It certainly would not have occurred to
me to buy a ticket like this 12 months in advance. Heck, Air Namibia
had not even been flying to London 12 months prior

Apparently, you haven't either, because you still haven't given me a
flight and a date for which the fare will not drop between the moment
the flight opens for booking and, say, 2 months out.


Hilary gave you specific examples (London-Sydney just before christmas
if I remember well).


It's a pretty bad example, because lowest published fares for these
dates are still plentifully available, and you can probably get a much
better deal by calling around a bit. Now, would I wait to buy these
tickets until November? Probably not. But booking them 12 months in
advance doesn't make much sense, either - they are not going anywhere
in a hurry.