Flights to Melbourne in December - book now or wait a bit

[soulrider]

We're going to Australia in mid December. Anyone have a magic wand (or insider knowledge about fares) and know if the prices now are the cheapest they're likely to be?

I would book as far in advance as possible. December is a peak month for Australia.

Its also worth looking at sites like Flight Centre as sometimes they do flash sales.

I'd book now. We used to go at random times, not holidays, etc and flights were always full.

I would book now unless a sale is imminent. We booked for Australia to go in August initially in October sale with BA then decided want to visit elsewhere too and was cheaper to cancel at book multi flight in January sale than add on new flights - at that point original flight price was same as in October sale. By August they had doubled in price. Only been once though so someone else may know better but generally always find flights cheaper the earlier you book and accomodation the cheaper the later you book but some sell out.

Thanks, I know when we booked to Canada a few years ago, it was expensive more than 6 months in advance then got cheaper before getting more expensive again. Doesn't sound like the same here so better get booking

OP, sign up to MyTimeRewards, you get 10% cash back on flights with certain providers (edreams, some directly with airlines).

We went to Australia in Feb, I had booked the flights in November and got them relatively 'cheap'. Definitely keep checking on Skyscanner! Good luck

If you are planning to stay there over Christmas and New Year, I would definitely recommend booking ASAP. You will have missed out on the cheapest flights already.

Flight sales highly unlikely to include stays over Xmas/N.Y. Regular travellers for these routes covering Christmas/N.Y often "Advance register" for when flights are first released which is normally approx. 10 months prior to departure. ex very senior travel industry

Book now - I have just booked for Chinese New Year (January 2020) and got a lower price than I paid when we went this year.

We fly to NZ on 6th Dec. I booked as soon as the tickets were available... after 6th Dec the prices went up by £500, by the 13th Dec they had doubled!! You need to get looking now

sorry... posted too soon. The prices are ridiculous for Christmas. I booked in January..

That was the price each that went up by £500 and then doubled! We were not going to go as early because of school, but could not afford to go any later than the 6th!

The prices at the moment for the dates we want aren't ridiculous - £850 each, only just got the annual leave approved so couldn't have booked any earlier.

Is that the usual price to Melbourne?

I would book now. I'm going to Brisbane in November and the really cheap flights with good times have gone. Got my flight in the end for £740, although that's not the cheapest I've had before, however it's not the most expensive!

It can be cheaper, prob about 650 the cheapest you can get but wouldn't expect that cheap in December