How far ahead should we book our flights?

[ChangeIsDue]

We have booked our summer holiday accommodation for August next year, having booked early to be sure of getting what we want

Should we book our flights now? There are currently no flights leaving within our preferred time slot from our preferred airport, but there are some reasonably priced tickets at a time that works for us at another airport which we could get to with a bit more hassle.

Should we get these or should we hold out and keep checking back for better tickets at our preferred airport? I don't want to end up missing out. I'm not really sure how it works - it all feels like a bit of a gamble!

You could wait for straight after Christmas sales? Flights will generally increase in price closer to departure... especially for a peak season flight.

Do you mean there is usually a seasonal route? Or there are no flights and you would want to wait if an airline decides to coincidentaly open a new route between the airports you need? Those things are usually announced months in advance, so unless you get very lucky and it's a very popular destination, I would expect the summer schedule would be available by now.

For prices, you can check google flights for average prices as well.

I don’t understand. What makes you think an airline is going to add a route in the next few months that will suit you better?

It's only my own an experience in booking flights that makes me think this. I'm not looking for a new route, I'm just wondering whether extra flights at better timeswill be added in the coming months. There are still nine months to go until we travel. Sorry if I've not made myself clear.

OK, that’s really unlikely, although not impossible.

I would probably book the best flights available now. I usually do things the other way round to be honest. I find flights that suit me, and then book accommodation afterwards.

I hope you find a great deal and have a wonderful holiday.

I would wait and see what flights are going to be offered extra year. Last year I booked an inconvenient flight to Crete, and the following week the perfect flight came up on our local airport.

But it the flights aren’t available now from the preferred airport, they aren’t available. It would be a whole new route!

summer schedule is set about 9 months advance - just book now, or wait for sales if it’s easyJet flights- but I wouldn’t leave it any later.

Most airlines have published their schedules for next year. Whilst they can be changed (more typically consolidation of two flights when a destination isn’t selling as planned) it’s unlikely. I’d book by January myself unless it’s a destination with lots of travel options, prices don’t drop often to popular destinations in summer

If you don't book flights now for the dates you want, they might not be available later, which would give you a bigger problem.

Yes, as a pp hinted, we should probably have booked our flights first. But we've been extra picky about the accommodation so I wanted to snap that up and then worry about the flights. In hindsight, I should have checked the flights first, seen how flexible the owners of the accommodation might be about dates and then booked accordingly.