I’ve seen the interwebs assert that the cheapest time to buy your flight is about 70 days before departure.
OK, liners. What’s the collective wisdom?
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Flight schedules and pricing are still a mess. Might be a while before we return to the old pricing patterns.
I don’t like leaving flights to be so close to an actual trip, so I couldn’t wait until 70 days! But I’m also picky and don’t want to get up at 3:30am to make a 6am flight - it’s worth paying more and securing a better flight time further out.
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I would bet the 70 days is contingent on the dates not being in such high demand that prices surge as seats fill up. But it is probably generally true for most times of year. I’ve also heard 2-3 months as a good time. As a complicating data point, I recently booked a flight to Hawaii (at 4 months out) and then there was a sale a few weeks later and I was able to switch to a direct flight for less than my 1-stop.
I usually book my flights about a year in advance to get my family seated all together and to make sure I have a direct flight if at all possible. (i.e., I agree with @ISUamanda that it’s worth paying more to secure a better flight.)
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Generally, I think it totally depends on your origin, destination, time of year, and choice airline.
But, I agree with @ISUamanda that these times are different and unpredictable. I’ve booked 4 trips over the past 4 months, and some prices have been unbelievably cheap ($131 DC to LAX) and some have been ridiculous ($550 DC to DEN). As airlines open up their schedules and add routes back in, there will be some sweet spots like @Jeff_AZ found to Hawaii (I’m jealous!), but it’s probably impossible to predict.
I also book out as far as possible to get good seat assignments and favorable flight times, and by happenstance, it seems that often is when I see the best prices (at least on United).
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Not in a post covid world. I was stalking for months and months and they did nothing but go UP.
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American Airlines is canceling a bunch of flights in July.
My flight to Orlando so far remains unchanged, but I will keep checking. It is a 16 hour drive from where I live in Texas….
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I booked my tickets via JetBlue first week of April for August departure date. I can use BOS or PVD. At the end of April they changed my arrive time to MCO from 3:30pm to 8:30pm. I figured no big deal I can find a sooner flight later on. Oh man the prices for me to get any other flight to MCO double the total cost I’ve already paid for round trip. It’s insane…
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If they change your arrival by more than an hour, don’t they have to compensate you in some way? I’ve never had that happen, but I did have the reverse happen - my arrival changed by less than an hour and I couldn’t get a refund even though the difference made it so I couldn’t reliably make my transfer with a different airline.
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I’ve found this to be another reason why booking out so early can be a plus. At least on United, they have been changing flights so much between the time I book and the day of travel, that often my original booking varies by at least 2 hours. That gives me the right to a full refund if I so desire.
Even if they change it by 30 minutes to an hour, I’ve had agents willing to change my flight to a different same day flight at no charge, even if the other flight is more expensive. This has gotten me on more expensive flights at more ideal times on several occasions.
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I have had that experience with SW in the past pre-Covid but right now, flights just keeping getting more and more expensive.
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For six tickets it was a $250 refund. Not terrible but an earlier flight would cost an additional $1500 to $2500…so not great.
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Yikes I was going to say 2K is the cost of getting all four of us to Florida!! But then I remembered you're talking US so my wallet just screamed in terror at that cost increase.
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That’s related to a labor dispute I think
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And way fewer nonstops and way worse/less convenient flight schedules overall
It’s hard to feel the Luv these days
Right now for SW I would say 45 days out and watch daily for price drops and schedule changes and the option to switch your flight at no cost.
Of course, Southwest doesn’t fly to Toronto. In fact, I think it gives all of Canada a hard pass.
True!
I am flying (from Philly) into Tampa in late September and out of MCO 12 days later. My non-stop, midday flight on American to Tampa was only $67. My non-stop return flight from MCO on Southwest was originally $79 but during last week’s sale I was able to rebook it and received a $56 credit!
The Southwest ticket was purchase in early May and I picked up the American ticket last week.
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I could fly round-trip from Toronto to Orlando for $60.
But I’d have to fit in someone else’s checked luggage and get my weight under 66 lbs.
I’m calling it Plan C.
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Following… 
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