Advice re ticket purchase

Hello, hoping for some advice re booking 7 PE seats for the LGW-MCO route. We are travelling 5th May 2013 and returning on the 19th. I am waiting for the dates to become available for booking. We would all like to be in the same cabin, either a reduced upper deck or increased lower deck or even the PE cabin on the airbus. I have tried some dummy bookings for the first week in May and they are coming out at around £1085 pp, identical to the BA fares for those dates. I know the price depends on demand but is it worth waiting a bit instead of jumping in ASAP or might the fares edge down or historically do they tend to increase. We do not have to sit in a block of 7 just nearby in twos and an odd one! Also, I have enough miles to get 7 miles plus money fares (if available). Drops the price per ticket by about £120 per person for 7500 miles pp. Not a big fan of using miles this way but I would like some advice/opinion please.
Thanks

Looking at fare watch for LGW-MCO over the coming months £1,085 is at the low end (fare watch doesn't yet feature GLA):

We don't see GLA in the sales often if at all ever, so it really is poor luck if it becomes an option. The general advice is that if you think the fare is reasonable, you decide then don't look back!

Everyone will have their own opinion on when's the best time to book but I'd be tempted to wait.

VS usually have a sale starting just before Xmas for flights in the spring so that might yield a better deal.

But then again it might not - unfortunately it's a total gamble. I personally wouldn't use M&M for that small a discount though.

EDIT: actually looking back at the sale last Christmas, it seems the lowest PE fare from LGW to MCO this May was £994. So £1095 might be as good as you'll get give or take a hundred quid or so.

Then again, the current UC sale is better than anything we've seen recently - which all simply goes to prove you just never know. If you think £1095 is reasonable, go for it and don't check back.

Hi, thanks for info especially the fare tracking tool, I should have checked this first. On a separate point has anyone found a way around the CC charge? It's going to add £105 pounds to the cost of these tickets. I want to use my VS white AMEX to get the points. Could use a debit card I suppose?

[preiffer]

Yup - either a debit card, or a US registered credit card.

Yup - either a debit card, or a US registered credit card.

US registered credit card??? I book using my US Amex and am always charged the fee. Yup, just checked, last flight was £50.19 for CC processing.

Hi, thanks for info especially the fare tracking tool, I should have checked this first. On a separate point has anyone found a way around the CC charge? It's going to add £105 pounds to the cost of these tickets. I want to use my VS white AMEX to get the points. Could use a debit card I suppose?

Unfortunatly if you have to book via VS because you are using miles or want to be in a different fare bucket other than 'cheapest' then you have no choice other than to book via the VS website and pay their CC fees. Also means you can't get any quidoco cashback.

So for 'ordinary' tickets I use expedia - no CC fee and I can get cashback too and still get the miles.

[preiffer]

Well, if I book using a US registered card, I get charged zero booking fee. Gets issued from their US office (even though originating from London) and all is well....

[preiffer]

Hi, thanks for info especially the fare tracking tool, I should have checked this first. On a separate point has anyone found a way around the CC charge? It's going to add £105 pounds to the cost of these tickets. I want to use my VS white AMEX to get the points. Could use a debit card I suppose?

Unfortunatly if you have to book via VS because you are using miles or want to be in a different fare bucket other than 'cheapest' then you have no choice other than to book via the VS website and pay their CC fees. Also means you can't get any quidoco cashback.

So for 'ordinary' tickets I use expedia - no CC fee and I can get cashback too and still get the miles.

Nope - not via the website. If you want a specific fare code, tailored to you, you need to call - not do it online.
And if you call with a US credit card, they'll issue the ticket from the US and no credit card fee is charged.

Yup - either a debit card, or a US registered credit card.

US registered credit card??? I book using my US Amex and am always charged the fee. Yup, just checked, last flight was £50.19 for CC processing.

That doesn't seem right to me, I never get charged a fee when using my US CC's for VS bookings.

Well, if I book using a US registered card, I get charged zero booking fee. Gets issued from their US office (even though originating from London) and all is well....

It must be the way I do it - which doesn't involve telephones or web sites ... thanks, just saved the company many £100s per year.

Just an update. Fares came up as £1080.40. Waited a few days and the price stayed the same. Two days later they went down to £980.60 :0 but now they are back up to £1088. Sure they will continue to fluctuate so best stop checking and quit while I am ahead . Used my white AMEX card £112 charge which gets me 15000 air miles so I quess it's cheaper than buying miles ?|