This is the TP forum! We do not answer questions simply here!!
We need to dissect your reason for travelling in a particular way just as thoroughly as we inspect the contents of every person’s park bag. 
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It’s definitely not as a fun as it used to be. (And yes, it totally makes sense to never fly a large family if you can avoid it!) I just hate, hate, hate sitting for long periods of time, so I fly as much as I can afford. I’m the weirdo pacing the terminal while waiting for flights rather than sitting like everyone else.
We love road trips. I’ve even had kids cite the best part of vacation is the drive. 
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I use skyscanner to get an idea of time of year and cost of tickets. I also use the hopper app to watch flights and the site gives you “predictions” and advise if you should buy or not. Traditionally you will get the best prices 2 months before (give or take) your trip.
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Thank you!!! This helps me too.
Do you refrain from making plans until two months out? Or do you make your land plans and then just trust that you will find some airfare to go with it?
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Where are your DS & DIL flying out of?
It depends on the trip, sometimes I can be really flexible, other times I need very specific dates. Obviously I can plan the specific dates, with the flexible dates I make multiple plans.
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LOL! I was trying to remember the pic (you sent in response to my shoe question) of your foot encased in some manly sandals, and Tevas came to mind. Forgive me!
My entire, hoped-for trip, depends entirely on affordable airfare. ( I also would like to find one more credit card to turn; but that is proving harder than I thought.) I am looking into this app right now.
The Hopper app will track flights for you and tell you when it is a good time to book.
ETA: Oops, I see that @carthy15 already mentioned Hopper. But it is so good, it rates a second mention. 
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I couldn’t agree more!
yea. i got lucky in my stupidity. Apparently jetblue is a. one you are better off getting 2 one way tickets as opposed to round trip and B. prices are better 6 mos out rather than 2
Detroit Metro airport
Good to note. I will look into the Hopper app.
I use the ITA Matrix website which is what Google flight search uses, only you can play with all the variables more easily. For a popular destination like MCO, probably at least 60-70 days out is going to the the best time to book, probably start watching at 90 days.
If you haven’t flown in many years, no matter what search engine you use, watch out for flights that put you at your destination a day later than you want (yes, they think these are legit results, look for the +1 notation). Read the fine print on what type of seat you are about to buy, the default for the full-service airlines like Delta now is basic economy, which didn’t exist until recently.
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I know there are already a tons of replies here but here goes. I only fly JetBlue because I hate flying and like the airline in general. Their cheapest fares are SOMETIMES release, but you can’t go wrong on release as it is among the cheapest options, if that makes sense. Sometimes it is lower. You can sign up for alerts online. I flew in early April for $200 a seat round trip, which was pretty great.
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You’re a bit late for that trip, m’dear… 
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Do you mean release day is best time to buy?
You’re right. I was being flippant, and selfish, and disrespectful. Here. I’ll rectify that.
I’ve flown a total of four times in my life. Once to California with my family for my one of my brothers’ wedding. Twice to California to visit my brother after he was married. Finally, for my wife’s and my honeymoon to Florida (Disney!).
Now, none of those were poor experiences. (There was a case of sort of “missing” a flight back to Michigan from California, but it wasn’t really our fault…the airline overbooked the flight and since I was one of the later persons to arrive, I got bumped.)
But in 1987, there as the crash of flight 255. I was about to be a freshman in high school when it happened. Only, this one was significant to us (some may remember it, because there was a sole survivor…a 4 year old little girl). My brother’s best friend (the same brother who I visited in California) was on that flight. I knew him personally, and he had a wife and young kids when he died.
For me, that made the possibility of dying in a plane crash very real. But, truth is, I was still young, and if I died, aside from some people being sad, I suppose it wouldn’t matter. When my wife and I got married, if we died, same thing.
Things are different now, though. We have a family. And if something happened to me, I leave behind a family. Furthermore, even if I wasn’t aware that crashes are real, there is the fact that with kids, flying becomes significantly more expensive than driving.
Then, as we all know, came Sept 11, 2001. For a time, EVERYONE was afraid of flying. But this reignited the reality I had experienced when my brother’s best friend died. It also made both my wife and I keenly aware that dying in a plane crash is altogether different than dying in a car crash.
Yes, yes, I know the stats. You’re more likely to die in a car crash than in a plane crash. But there are a few fallacies with that. First is that MOST of the people who die in car crashes are during certain time periods (late at night) due to drunk drivers, etc. (Granted…this has shifted in more recent years, where distracted drivers now kill more people than drunk drivers.) If you don’t drive in those times, your risk of dying drops dramatically. Accidents happen, but then are USUALLY non-fatal, fender benders, or minor injuries.
Second is that even if you do die in a car accident, typically it is over in an instant. But with rare exception, plane crashes, when they occur, involve essentially a build up to the actual crash of pure terror (anticipation of the crash happening).
So, when you add all this up, PLUS the fact that flying these days you hear people complaining about more and more due to all the changes to airline seating and baggage handling, etc., I just have zero desire to fly.
Now, I’ll admit, the idea of getting on a plane and being there in 2 1/2 hours is appealing. Although, even that isn’t true, since it takes about an hour to get to the airport, then you have to go through security checks, and whatnot, etc. All told, flying can take up half the day! In the meantime, we enjoy the family time together when we drive.
There you have it. The answer to your question NOT simply. 
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I completely understand. We were scheduled to fly out for our honeymoon in Disney on 9/12/01 from Logan. We rescheduled for a month later, but getting on that plane was one of the toughest mental things I have had to do. And then sitting on a mostly empty plane on the way down and back just made it more scary.
I didn’t fly again until a business trip which also happened to be on 9/11/09 - and I now had a 1 year old I was leaving at home. It took on a whole new meaning.
The last few years, I’ve flown at least 8 times a year for business and personal travel and it’s gotten so much easier. I don’t have that moment of panic anymore I had during those 2 earlier trips. But it took repetition to get myself to this point!
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