kamui Posted June 13, 2010 Report Share Posted June 13, 2010 Some might remember that tried to book a flight to LOS for Christmas holiday 2009. At the time (Sept. 2009) the cheapest flight FRA-BKK-FRA I could find during peak holiday was 1.100 €, later it went up to 1.200-1.300 €. This time I was a little bit more flexible and my travel agency found a flight for 760 €. And the prices are going down. Wednesday is was 650 € and today I found a Thai Air flight for [color:red]just 624 €[/color]. That's the cheapest flight I ever saw during a holiday season since I traveled to LOS in 2001 and it is only 5 weeks until summer holiday... Is tourism that down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilli13 Posted June 13, 2010 Report Share Posted June 13, 2010 try airberlin.de - you can find cheaper!! anyway a *REAL* sale on TG/LH would be like €399 or €499 NET, but haven't seen those for a while have you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamui Posted June 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2010 The prices I quoted are two-way. Even the cheapest Air Berlin flights (with a stop over in Berlin) cost over 1.000 €.... anyway a *REAL* sale on TG/LH would be like €399 or €499 NET, but haven't seen those for a while have you? Show me where to find a two-way ticket for 500 € and I change my booking. Anyway I have never been offered such a cheap flight to LOS, probably because I can't book that many months in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted June 13, 2010 Report Share Posted June 13, 2010 ... actually booking more than 3 months out usually increases the airfare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamui Posted June 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2010 ... actually booking more than 3 months out usually increases the airfare. When is the best time to book a flight. Usually I book like 6-4 weeks in advance and my travel agency has problems to find a reasonable price. This time is different since the prices went down in the last two weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USVirgin Posted June 13, 2010 Report Share Posted June 13, 2010 Conventional wisdom is that if you're traveling over Christmas holiday (peak of peak season) and can find an early-bird special now, go for it. Barring another crisis in the next six months, those seats will definitely fill up and the prices will double. To wait until 0-3 months out is to bet on more political turmoil/violence, or calamity. Anybody's guess, at this point. Any other time of year, I'd advise you to wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamui Posted June 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2010 Thanks. I see, that I forgot to write, that I am flying July 20 (not Christmas...). :nahnah: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave32 Posted June 13, 2010 Report Share Posted June 13, 2010 Hey USV, though Kamui cited Christmas as an example, I think he was talking about the Summer holiday season for the cheap flights. (EDIT: Ooops, I see he already responded). As I understood it, Summer is an off-season in Thailand (monsoons and heat). Yes? So it's a good time to go for deals and lessened tourist activity, I think. Couple questions. 1. If you're buying a ticket in the off-season, February through ???, as a general rule -- what is the optimal time to book the flight to get the best price? 3 weeks out? 6 weeks? 3 months? 2. Because of job, can't leave over xmas holiday, but can over Thanksgiving (have no idea why). Plan on being in BKK the weeks of 11/15 to 12/3. I can stretch it a little in both directions (and I do) using personal days. So it looks like the best flights from LAX now are on Cathay Pacific: Thurs 11/11 - Mon 12/13 - $975 Fri 11/12 - Sun 12/12 - $1087 Thurs 11/11 Sun 12/12 - $1000 Basically the same flight. Pays to leave on Thursday. A handful are slightly less but have ridiculously long layovers. Uh huh. Question is, would this time frame be considered 'busy' season and is it better to wait or buy sooner? (Don't worry, won't hold it against you if you said wait and prices shot up or vice versa). Just curious for input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USVirgin Posted June 13, 2010 Report Share Posted June 13, 2010 Looks like I read the post, but forgot to read THE THREAD TITLE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USVirgin Posted June 13, 2010 Report Share Posted June 13, 2010 Cathay's seasons, based on departure date from the US (I looked it up, but fairly typicalof other airlines): Low - 15AUG-30NOV Shoulder - 01DEC-06DEC High - 07DEC-31DEC (back to low again on 01JAN) Weekday/weekend travel applies in both directions, weekdays being MON-THU. Some airlines consider Sunday travel as weekday, but not CX, so return on Monday if you can. Leaving in November, I think you can afford to wait a while until September or October to purchase. What international airlines typically do is offer discounted fares to their volume agents 3 months in advance and revise them up or down on a monthly basis, depending upon advance bookings. This especially applies if you are shopping at ethnic travel agencies in Chinatown or Thaitown, which is worth doing. They may also come up with ad-hoc specials, if desperate, through these agencies and/or their own or other websites. Cathay, in particular, is pretty aggressive in offering the best deals on their own website, so you should keep an eye on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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