when do you think is the best time to book flights and hotel for spring break 2013?

Flights just came out and are very high. Promos for hotels are generally until Dec right now.

Re: when do you think is the best time to book flights and hotel for spring break 2013?

Well usually when they 1st come out are the lowest rates. Jet blue etc has so many seats at specific rates. Generally I have found 1st rates are the cheapest - but there is always a chance that a sale might happen. The problem is that you never know - if the price goes down some airlines will give you an airline credit to be used within a year of booking. Basically you could book or hold your breath and pray something better comes out. The big thing is if it is a very popular destination there may or may not be any discounts.

I saw a lot of people recently groaning about the cost of airfare to MCO on Jet blue who released on Sunday with ridiculous rates.

I watched the rates this year for MCO on southwest and jet blue for August (we were thinking of going to WDW this year but pushed the trip to next Aug). So I followed the rates to see the pattern for next year. I found that for this year - the cheapest airfares were when they 1st released them. After that they went up a LOT. They went for around $800-900 for 4 to about $1500 - and then up and down between $1200 and $1500. But the lowest rates were only out for a day or two once released.

Re: when do you think is the best time to book flights and hotel for spring break 2013?

Where are you going? Disney?

I agree with Lillykat that the first airfares are usually the best and that the price increase will be more drastic with popular destinations. This is because airlines will offer fewer cheaper seats for the more popular destinations so they'll fill up more quickly.

The extent to which that is true will vary by destination, though. If it's a destination with low demand, prices could go down as you get closer to departure so the airline can move seats.

It also depends on competition. Destinations with less demand probably also have less airlines flying there, which means less flights and less seats overall - at all price ranges. This is why a peak seat to Orlando is probably still cheaper than a flight to Wichita, Kansas.

I just booked flights to Disney for President's week and we're paying $1500 for a family of four. It's a lot, but we wanted the nice weather without missing school and work, which leaves very few choices. Believe it or not $1500 was not even as close to as high as it could go.

Re: when do you think is the best time to book flights and hotel for spring break 2013?

Depends on the destination. it's almost always better to book first. If the price drops, most vendors (airlines, hotels, etc) will let you rebook under the new rate or will give you a credit. I got a $170 credit when my flight price dropped.

I have several trips I'm watching in Kayak right now. The prices pretty much only go up.

I can tell you that forone of the early college spring break weeks in early March last year I paid $670 for me and DH to go to Orlando. I booked it 10 days out. Based on prior trips, I'm sure I could have gotten it for at least $200 less had I booked early.


Anyway, as planes fill, you will only pay more. Book as soon as you're sure.

Re: when do you think is the best time to book flights and hotel for spring break 2013?

It's for Nassau (Bahamas).

The JetBlue prices just came out and are sky high.

Delta has more reasonable but one flight has a layover. I just read that other thread where the poster booked a layover flight to save $200 and now a cheaper direct flight came out later on. That's got me paranoid.

Spirit also has more reasonable but someone told me they may go out of business very soon- I didn't look into whether or not that is true. I've had pretty bad Spirit florida experiences back in the day when they were the main cheapo airline.

I've heard a lot about packages through cheapcarribean but we are way too far out from the dates for that.

Re: when do you think is the best time to book flights and hotel for spring break 2013?

Just a heads up, I believe Jet Blue will credit you for the price difference if the price of your flight goes down. You have to keep monitoring it and you have to book through Jet Blue directly, but it's something to consider!

Re: when do you think is the best time to book flights and hotel for spring break 2013?

Re: when do you think is the best time to book flights and hotel for spring break 2013?

I'm a JetBlue loyalist, so if it were me, I'd book Jetblue and keep a kayak.com alert on it and watch for sales to see if I can get it adjusted to a lower rate. I will also fly Delta, but I don't mess with spirit, airtran, etc. I've heard too many horror stories.

I fly often enough that the one year restriction doesn't matter to me. When I got the credit in may I knew I'd be flying to Disney in October, so it works out just fine for me.