Pdoggg Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 I was always under the impression that booking about 4 months in advance is the best. And not within the last three weeks before the flight. But I guess it varies year to year and airline by airline. What's your experience? The folks at Skyscanner have some stats and data about this issue if you click the link below. Check them out by way of Asia Hotel and Travel http://www.asiahotelandtravel.com/index.php?/topic/386-best-time-to-book-flights/ If using Skyscanner, BB and I would sure appreciate it if you access Skyscanner by way of Asia Hotel and Travel. http://www.asiahotelandtravel.com/index.php?/topic/386-best-time-to-book-flights/ http://www.asiahotelandtravel.com/index.php?/topic/386-best-time-to-book-flights/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimslim Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 I was always under the impression that booking about 4 months in advance is the best. What's your experience? I think that's about right . I had a chat with a travel agent one time who reckoned it was the best idea to book in and around that period Its all really a bit hit and miss and there can be a lot of price brackets for the same seats , its frustrating when prices go up and down daily . My advice would be if you see a price you think is decent just book it and never check again . 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoolpusher Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 I try and book about 8 to 10 weeks before I need to fly and I seem to get the best deal with any airline from Austrailia But some cheap deals have a 9 hour flight turn in to a 30 hour one , so I check them all first. This next trip on the 25th cost me $600 aus return with Air Asia . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiamSam Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 I think the advice to find a price you can live with, book it, and never/ever look back again is good. It really is a crapshoot and the reasoning for the price fluctuations is beyond me. And those flight fluctuations are no longer vast like in days gone by. I have booked well in advance only to find cheaper prices as the travel date approaches. Very depressing and if you want to change to take advantage of the new lower prices the change/cancellation fees for the original booking can be very disturbing and usually just trumps any rational desire to change. It appears the airlines have worked this out to be close to an exact science and it boggles the mind. I have spent hours online trying to outsmart them (and I'm pretty experienced in this area) only to end up frustrated and beaten. I've won on occasion but certainly no where near the times I have lost. It's like gas prices. I think all of these fuckers get together regularly and collude to bum fuck the travelling public. I miss the days of true competition. Perhaps things will swing back again but doubtful. Like gas, once the corporate giants are happy with a price they seldom go downwards. Oil has collapsed over 50% in the past year. I am still paying close to the same amount per litre of gas as I was when a barrel of oil was at its highest. Anyway, the cost to fly today is painfully insane especially when you combine it with the service the airlines collectively provide. So many conditions and add-ons for the privilege to sit in an 18 inch seat with minimal incline between a smelly obese person on your right and someone on your left that snores, or picks their noses, or clips their nails, or wants to talk you for 13 hours about things you have totally and absolutely no interest in, or needs to get up to go to the washroom 58 times. And don't get me going on the food you have to ingest to get through the ordeal. It all adds up to being confined to 19th century steerage (sewage) travel on some claustrophobic steamer, minus the rats but those experiences can't be that far behind. There. I've vented. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke007 Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Jeez Sam, who do you Fly with...Yorkshire Airlines? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sustra2 Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 i gues 4 months it is right...wanted to book phuket 3 weeks ago in november and didn't....yesterday the price went 100 up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnykey Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 As soon as you know your dates book the flight...thats my motto. Booked my November trip on 5th May....one of the cheapest fares i have ever got. It will not be going down ....can only go up. Cheers DK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8inches Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 According to Momondo, 53 days b4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke007 Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 There is a Flight on NetFlights at the moment going for £497, from the Number 1 voted Best Airline in 2015 this is amazing value considering Im returning from a different destination and the short stop-overs, hope its still at this price at the end of August when I purchase my ticket Summary Total flights price £496.54 (incl. taxes & fees) Total time: 17h 15m Outbound To Manila MAN 13:55 Tue 10 Nov 2015 23:50 DOH Tue 10 Nov 2015 Stopover 1 h 45 m DOH 01:35 Wed 11 Nov 2015 15:10 MNL Wed 11 Nov 2015 Total time: 16h 25m Inbound To Manchester BKK 08:35 Sat 28 Nov 2015 11:50 DOH Sat 28 Nov 2015 Stopover 1 h 20 m DOH 13:10 Sat 28 Nov 2015 18:00 MAN Sat 28 Nov 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pdoggg Posted August 11, 2015 Author Share Posted August 11, 2015 It's tough to figure out airlines as I could not replicate that fare using Qatar's own website using those dates. http://www.asiahotelandtravel.com/index.php?/topic/365-qatar-voted-worlds-number-1-airline/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiamSam Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 There is a Flight on NetFlights at the moment going for £497, from the Number 1 voted Best Airline in 2015 this is amazing value considering Im returning from a different destination and the short stop-overs, hope its still at this price at the end of August when I purchase my ticket Wouldn''t you prefer to fly over to Canada and have a cup of tea with me instead Mr. Duke? Perhaps we could spend the afternoon playing a round of miniature golf also. Now that's something to look forward to!! Good times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke007 Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 Wouldn''t you prefer to fly over to Canada and have a cup of tea with me instead Mr. Duke? Perhaps we could spend the afternoon playing a round of miniature golf also. Now that's something to look forward to!! Good times. Would swap it in a heartbeat Sam but Ive already booked my MNL to BKK Flight plus accomodations in Manila, Angeles and my favourite room at the Chow Soy....another time maybe mon ami Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dixon cox Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 I seem to remember being told that booking 59 days prior to your intended flight date was the optimum time to book. I often make numerous checks and keep notes on prices from around 70 days in advance and would tend to agree that between 55 and 60 days is the best. My recent two-week trip back to the UK of a return flight BKK-LHR at the end of July was quoted on 19/5/2015 as £607 (British Airways) or £613 EVA. Due to an unforeseen delay of one week for the return of my passport for my annual visa my actual booking was delayed until the 28/5/2015, but the price had reduced with British Airways from £607 to £563.70, so I snapped that up. Every cloud etc.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke007 Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 My recent two-week trip back to the UK of a return flight BKK-LHR at the end of July was quoted on 19/5/2015 as £607 (British Airways) or £613 EVA. Due to an unforeseen delay of one week for the return of my passport for my annual visa my actual booking was delayed until the 28/5/2015, but the price had reduced with British Airways from £607 to £563.70, so I snapped that up. Every cloud etc.. How did you find the BA flight DC?, its been quite a few years since I flew on BA from BKK to LHR ( the LHR-BKK leg was with Qantas) and that was on a 747-400 aircraft. I did a check on return Flights recently from Manchester to Bangkok and BA were quoting prices of just over £560 which kinda surprised me as it was MAN -BKK via LHR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dixon cox Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 How did you find the BA flight DC?, its been quite a few years since I flew on BA from BKK to LHR ( the LHR-BKK leg was with Qantas) and that was on a 747-400 aircraft. I did a check on return Flights recently from Manchester to Bangkok and BA were quoting prices of just over £560 which kinda surprised me as it was MAN -BKK via LHR I both like and dislike BA but with me it's simply price that wins, or at least it used to be. If flights with EVA and BA matched in price I would book with EVA. BA was the cheapest for similar dates last year too. I was pissed off with British Airways in both directions this time around and this is why: On both occasions on both legs of the trip I was online 24 hours in advance ready to check-in immediately I was able to do so. Seconds into the 24-hour check-in period 90%+ of the seats were already taken yet there's no way all that could have been done in those first few seconds, so I must assume those people paid the £28 extra fee to reserve their desired seat further in advance. The seat I always try and book is always at the very rear of any section, i.e. with no-one behind me, I don't care about limited recline, and preferably in a corner. All these seats are considered poor by seatguru.com, but not by me. The out-going flight at BKK when checking in my baggage the lady said they were changing my seat due to the entertainment system not working, I got an aisle seat a few rows forward of that and endured a small child's feet regularly in my back during the flight. Little cunt. The return flight from LHR I'd again checked in online seconds after the 24 hour window became available, again 90%+ of seats were already reserved. I chose the exact same seat I chose on the first leg and if that not very entertaining entertainment system still wasn't working I'd tell them it didn't matter and to keep the seat. I got my boarding pass confirming for my chosen seat. Down at the boarding gate I was informed that due to a family reshuffle I had again lost my seat choice and although was moved to a seat nearby without anyone behind me it was a bad seat because everyone passing used it as a grab rail and my sleep was regularly disturbed. Those changes fucked me off and I may not use British Airways anymore purely based on seat reshuffles. Food and all the rest of it was fine, the entertainment system was poor compared to EVA. I only want to book direct flights and the only other option is Thai Airways but they have priced themselves way out of contention over recent years. I may pay the extra for EVA in future, I'll have to see, but I cannot recall ever having a poor flight with them and on the one occasion my seat choice was changed I was upgraded to the next class, not to a shittier seat like with BA. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke007 Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 Ok fuck to being patriotic and flying with my National airline, I'll just stick with Emirates, Cathay Pacific or Qatar then cheers DC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiamSam Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 IMO, EVA is a classier airline than many others. I just think they try harder not unlike some of the other bigger carriers out of Asia like Cathay and even Thai to some extent. As far as the issue concerning "checking-in seat selections", you need to realize most airlines block off their best seats for passengers that have a higher class/priced fare ticket and also their premium loyalty members. Those seats will appear to be taken (X'd out) even if they are not. They just keep their best seats in reserve for their best paying and loyal customers. They will not release these seats until their are satisfied they can be released without higher paying customer repercussions of dissatisfaction. That is usually 90 to 60 minutes before departure. Somewhere in that window of time the seat designation is turned over to the gate's agent and cannot even be accessed at the check-in counter. The gate's agent becomes the boss of seats so charm them and you usually get what you want/need. My experience is to reserved you choice of seat (aisle, middle, window) and then 60 to 45 minutes before boarding go to the agent at the gate's boarding counter and ask if there is another seat available in your choice of aisle, middle, window, front or rear of cabin, et cetera. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiamSam Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 Ok fuck to being patriotic and flying with my National airline, I'll just stick with Emirates, Cathay Pacific or Qatar then cheers DC What about the Queen Mr. Duke? She might be disappointed to hear you say that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke007 Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 What about the Queen Mr. Duke? She might be disappointed to hear you say that. dont tell Lizzie and I'll buy you a few bevvies mon ami Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pdoggg Posted August 13, 2015 Author Share Posted August 13, 2015 The seat I always try and book is always at the very rear of any section, i.e. with no-one behind me, I don't care about limited recline, and preferably in a corner. All these seats are considered poor by seatguru.com, but not by me. My experience is that the very last row on the plane is usually blocked off but on empty flights nobody is sitting there. Maybe they want a place for the crew to sit or don't want too may people around the hong nam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.