Best time to buy LGW>MCO (July 2013 - start of school hols)

Hi,

I'm keeping my eye on the prices for a trip we're considering next July. 20 July to 10 August - possibly some flexibility (up to +1 week) but this is right at the start of school hols. I appreciate this period will be under demand so I'm just trying to work out the best time to purchase?

Is it still best to buy the moment they are released? (i.e. a couple of weeks time) or wait a little? Was hoping to go PE if possible. (2 adults, 3 children) Last couple of times went PE - but would consider Economy, is it that bad relatively? Only got around 14k miles so best I could do was to use the M&M for Economy (10k miles). I know M&M isn't the best use of miles but does seem to level out some of the prices around that period.

Any help or views appreciated!

[Neil]

Hi and Welcome,

You have asked the million dollar question really. I guess if we all knew when seats would be at their cheapest we would all have saved quite a lot of money over the years.

I guess you have to ultimately do what is best for you, and when you are happy with the price go for it. We were in a similar situation for Easter next year, our dates were totally fixed so we booked as soon as the flights came out at a very high price (compared to normal). The flight prices have never come down and the flight sold out very quickly so it was the right call for us in our situation, but that is unique to everyone so only you can judge that.

You just cant second guess what priced these days.
A couple of years ago we got very good prices on Christmas Day for July. You just never know when they will go up and down. They may only come down for a day or two.
Keep looking and pay a price you are happy with and never check the prices again after you have bought.

Thanks - as I thought... Got a few weeks to decide but also trying to combine with some accommodation. Frankly, having it all booked and sorted is the priority but just want a reasonable price...

We booked our flights in January for this July's holiday.

We checked the prices two or three times a day from October (yes every day). On the particular day we booked there was nothing reasonable in the morning, nothing reasonable at lunchtime then at Dinner time the flight just disappeared and there were no flights available at all on that flight. !

Lacey Senior got home and I gave him the bad news, he went online and yep nothing, then refreshed the page and the most amazing prices popped up before our eyes and we grabbed them.

Within two hours they were all gone, you have to be quick

thelaceys

Yeah, it's a bit of a mystery.

In regards to M&M it definitely 'levels' the fares out in regards to full fares. The fares are peaking for Fri, Sat and Sun but with M&M the complete week is the same fare.

The fare is £776 to £816 and with M&M is £731 - a reasonable saving for the more popular flights.

Anyone got any comments on the difference between PE and E? Is it that much worse?

I have this dilemma every year! I often check July LGW-MCO flights on skyscanner. Last year, late September, I settled on paying £670 return direct with VA. I then made the mistake of leaving the skyscanner app running the same search and saw it in October at £640. It stayed around £640-£700 for a couple of months before going to silly prices (£1000+).

As thelaceys said though, occasionally a real bargain can pop up unexpectedly. in 2009 I bagged a July VS15/16 flight for £365, booking on Boxing day. I think it may have coincided with their 25th anniversary. Other Boxing days have not yielded such results. It seems to be very random.

I have also noticed that the new year sales now have a cut off date of 30th June for MCO flights, whereas they used to end mid July, making it fairly unlikely to bag a great deal.

As other people have said, it's best to book when you feel you have obtained a decent enough price for you (then don't look at the prices again!). Personally I would book anything under £700.

Good luck bargain hunting!

Well I booked a few weeks ago.

I got M&M PE outbound and E with extra legroom return. Not a bargain but I was happy with the price as I got the Saturday dates I wanted (more popular/expensive).

I'm now committing the sin of monitoring the prices - more for future reference! However, the prices have been steadily rising to the point where E flights alone are more than I've paid already... Of course I'm aware they might dive but I might not have got the dates/options I wanted.

You pays your money...