Best time to book a flight?

thisisadamh

Hi all. I am planning on going to Cape Town for a month for the month of June 2013 to see family. Just wondering when is the best time to book? I can book now if I wanted to but I want to make sure I am getting the best price.

Thanks
Adam

sparrowcar

Doesn't really work like that TBH.

Obviously during a seat sale is the best time. Sometimes booking too early can be more expensive as seat sales happen if routes/loads are low but the initial price when the flight goes live can be expensive.

I would suggest looking out for a seat sale rather than a time.

Qualitymark

On the other hand...

There are times when you can get better prices; for instance, if there's a big sports event where many people will be flying into a country, the flights out on that day or the next day will often be cheap, because the planes have to be filled.

jmayo

Also find out what is the national holiday as few of the natives will be flying on that day.
From experience if you want a no hassel transit through an American Airport with very few people on board the aircraft fly on Thanksgiving.

coylemj

thisisadamh wrote: »

Hi all. I am planning on going to Cape Town for a month for the month of June 2013 to see family. Just wondering when is the best time to book? I can book now if I wanted to but I want to make sure I am getting the best price.

You already know when you will travel which means that you're plans are somewhat inflexible, that means that you will probably book reasonably early to guarantee that you fly on the dates you want, that in turn means that you will pay through the nose. That's how the airlines set fares, they set prices high a long way out because they know that people travelling for the likes of a wedding will book early and will take whatever fare they're offered.

Only if you can afford to leave it to the last minute will you get a bargain on a flight to South Africa, I can't see any of the airlines doing seat sales for that route, especially in June. More likely that in this recession they will cut back on capacity and there will be a seat shortage so no bargains at all, even at the last minute.

stopthepanic

coylemj wrote: »

You already know when you will travel which means that you're plans are somewhat inflexible, that means that you will probably book reasonably early to guarantee that you fly on the dates you want, that in turn means that you will pay through the nose. That's how the airlines set fares, they set prices high a long way out because they know that people travelling for the likes of a wedding will book early and will take whatever fare they're offered.

Some airlines actually set their prices based on seat availability. For example the first 20 seats will go at the lowest price, the next 20 will have a higher price etc all this in association with the time to the booking.
Supply and demand. Ever try and price a flight with Ryan Air or Aer Lingus for the next day?

I have flights booked to Oz in December since they were released to the web in February and the price has only gone up as availability on the flight goes down ( I can tell this by viewing the allocated seats).

Savman

June 2013, definitely hold off for the time being. It's almost a year away, there will be many a sale between now and then and with a destination like CPT it's bound to save you a few hundred IMHO.

Keep checking on a regular basis with all the airlines that do the route, off the top of my head you have Lufthansa via Frankfurt, Air France via Paris, KLM via Amsterdam, Etihad or Emirates via Abu Dhabi or Dubai and not forgetting BA & Virgin in London.

Make good friends with SkyScanner.

thisisadamh

Thanks for all the advice. BA or SAA are my preferred choices as I have flown with them before and would like to fly through London. They also seem to be two of the cheapest (at the moment anyway, both around the 800 mark). As soon as I find something for 700 I am going to jump on it.

basill

You do realise that by going through the UK that you are paying through the nose in taxes?

Looks to be a great circle distance of about 5200nm between EGLL and FACT which would more than likely put you into Band C. Assuming you are opting for economy then that is £81 paid to the UK govt.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Passenger_Duty

bkehoe

Consider flying to JNB and then booking a separate domestic flight to CPT as there are a lot more international connections from JNB.

It should be possible to get from DUB to JNB for approx 500 euro if you play your cards right and transit somewhere other than London. I got return to JNB with Etihad for 440 euro earlier this year if you don't mind the extra 2 or 3 hours in an aircraft. At the same time Air France was 480 euro. I've previously gone with them for 470 euro last year.

All my cheapest flights have been a few weeks in advance. I never book more than that.

LXFlyer

Check out some of the continental airlines such as SWISS, Lufthansa, Turkish or Air France also - they all have regular promotions and certainly in the case of SWISS transferring at Zurich is very easy.

steve-o

basill wrote: »

You do realise that by going through the UK that you are paying through the nose in taxes?

Complete and utter nonsense. OP is travelling from Ireland.

LXFlyer

As the previous poster points out, UK APD is not payable by transit passengers.

basill

Who says he is transitting? A lot of people book point to point these days using say a loco for part of the journey. Look at how many people bleat on how FR got them late into an airport and they missed a connection.

Savman

The OP should have no reason to try book a non-connecting flight to London on a low cost carrier, far more trouble than it's worth and it's a false economy that offers zero protection should any problems arise.

I've done it once before and was lucky with flights not being delayed etc, but you always run the risk of getting stuck in Heathrow or your bags being left behind and if they don't arrive on your homeward leg there is no chance the ground agents in LHR or LGW will forward them to DUB if that's not on your flight itinerary.

OP has plenty of alternatives without this hassle.

thisisadamh

Savman wrote: »

The OP should have no reason to try book a non-connecting flight to London on a low cost carrier, far more trouble than it's worth and it's a false economy that offers zero protection should any problems arise.

I've done it once before and was lucky with flights not being delayed etc, but you always run the risk of getting stuck in Heathrow or your bags being left behind and if they don't arrive on your homeward leg there is no chance the ground agents in LHR or LGW will forward them to DUB if that's not on your flight itinerary.

OP has plenty of alternatives without this hassle.

That has happened to me. I was flying with my parents about 7 years ago and the flight from cape town was cancelled. BA put us in a 5 star hotel and got us on a new flight the next day and organised the new aer lingus connection the next day for us so did not have to do anything.
Booking with one carrier is the way to go even if it is a little more expensive.