How long before the travel date are plane tickets the cheapest?

I know that plane tickets tend to be more expensive excessively in advance (like 8-9 months) because those tickets haven't started to be actively considered for specials yet. But I also know that as the date approaches, the price tends to go up as well (thus the cost of flying on short notice).





At what point in between are prices the cheapest?|||Your instincts are right. Historically, the ideal window was between 3 months and 3 weeks + 1 day. Many airlines still impose mandatory price increases as the trip gets closer inside 3 weeks. On the other hand, if you are flexible with dates, sometimes you can find awesome last minute fares by going to airlines websites and signing up to be on their newsletter mailing list.





In general, I would recommend trying to book 4-6 months out, if only so that you can have those 3 months to monitor the fares, ideally daily but perhaps weekly and then to secure tickets when you see a drop. There is also a helpful site called airfare watchdog. Finally, consider purchasing tickets through a site (I believe orbitz has this feature) which does a price guarantee, such that you can take advantage of any subsequent fare drops.|||It's so hard to say. Every airline has their own way to price tickets. Obviously, the sooner the better when it comes to purchasing tickets. So I would stick to that rule.|||Check out:





http://farecast.live.com/





It's a airfare prediction website, saved me hundreds over the past few months.








|||Okay, according to what was already stated, only airlines know when to sell tickets at VERY LOW prices %26amp; when sell at VERY HIGH. I disagree with "the sooner the better" policy. It's a nice idea IF you know that prices previously were high %26amp; now they're low. Grabbing them NOW is a VERY GOOD IDEA. But if you're going to buy them NOW %26amp; fly TOMORROW, it's VERY, VERY EXPENSIVE.





Usually, prices tend to go high during holiday season. If you're planning on leaving during the holidays, buy your tickets months in advance. Check out the latest promos often %26amp; judge for yourself it's worth taking. As I've already stated, airlines know best when to give high or low tickets. If an offer arises wherein they offer a cheap price for the holiday season when it's only 6 months prior to that holiday, then take it.