Best time before travel date to book Delta flights?

[Hintermann]

I am going on a complicated trip from the UK to the USA, Caribbean and Baja in May 2015. My itinerary will be best served by flying Delta and using Atlanta Airport as the hub. I have got the flight itinerary all mapped out - no problems there - but as it involves a 6-flight multi-city itinerary on Delta Airlines, I wondered when the best value economy fares come out? On previous trips I have tried booking very early ie soon after the fares are released 11 months prior to the date of travel, only to find that the fares dropped further a few months later. I do not know how to anticipate this.

Can someone please advice me as to the best time for fares before the date of travel? Thanks in anticipation.

 

[jameseg]

I fly Delta a decent amount, as Minneapolis is one of their hubs. In my experience, there doesn't seem to be any predictable pattern in their fare levels. My best guess is that they set the rate for a specific route, then either increase or decrease that rate over time as they have a better sense of how much demand there is.

I will say that I've read that time of day can matter, and have seen that in my own experience. I believe Tuesday mornings are the cheapest time to buy airlines tickets. Something to do with tickets being held over the weekend and then released at that time.

With an itinerary as complex as yours, I'd go ahead and buy the tickets now if the prices are somewhat pallatable. At least that gets you the exact flight times you want, and a better choice of seats.

James

 

[Shasta_man]

Then after buying them, don't check the prices again. It'll just make you mad.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Delta's Caribbean flights don't tend to fluctuate much. I live in Atlanta, and Delta is my primary airline. I suppose I should qualify what I said. What I've observed is that Delta's prices for Atlanta nonstops to Caribbean dive destinations don't fluctuate. It's entirely possible that Delta's fares for multi-stop itineraries routed through Atlanta fluctuate. We in Atlanta never see cheap fares from Delta, since we're a captive audience. I have paid more for a nonstop from Atlanta to Roatan than somebody coming from Philadelphia paid to change planes in Atlanta to board the same plane I'm on.

 

[Mike]

I track my flight costs to see the trends on Yapta.com, and I have found no rhyme or reason to them. Sometimes they go up as you get closer and sometimes they go down. More often they seem to go up.

You can try Yapta.com and track the ticket costs, they will email you price changes and such.

 

[Hintermann]

I track my flight costs to see the trends on Yapta.com, and I have found no rhyme or reason to them. Sometimes they go up as you get closer and sometimes they go down.

You can say that again. I just checked the return fare for the Atlanta-Bonaire Saturdays only route in May 2014 (One of my segments in May 2015) and it is $958. But the Houston to Bonaire fare on United on those exact days are around $530. Unfortunately, I cannot use United for my itinerary because I cannot make the necessary connections in my complicated itinerary. I have to fly on Delta through Atlanta.

 

[KeithG]

Just book them as soon as they become available. There is no rational pattern to flight costs.

My wife once booked a first class Ticket to London because it was cheaper than an economy ticket ON THE SAME FLIGHT.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Study: The Best Time to Buy Cheap Airline Tickets is 6 Weeks Before a Flight | TIME.com

How to Get the Cheapest Price on Airfare | Fox Business

A few months ago I also saw a news special in which they stated international flights are best purchased about 90 days prior to the flight. That's when I started looking for my last international flight and within a couple weeks I found a great deal that was over $200 less than usual fares.

 

[Hintermann]

The problem I have with late booking is that most of the flights in my itinerary are the 'no alternative' kind. Meaning that if even one of them gets full before I book, I am stumped.