Flight booking to the USA NFR

[epsomraver]

Going to the States fly drive in May next year and have a price from both B/A and virgin, however last year although booking with Virgin and getting a sale weekend discount,booking  3 months before holiday , when I looked at prices a couple of weeks before holiday they had gone down by over £200 each, is it a good idea to wait or book soon, any advice?

[sipwell]

I read somewhere that you need to book at least three months in advance, because then prices are at its lowest. The airplane has been filled to some extent (but insufficiently so) and no 'last minute we need to get there asap' people are looking for tickets. A myth has it that you always need to book on a Tuesday: I heard stories where it is true and some where it did not really matter (but always good to check anyhow). If you are flexible, it is also interesting to change dates (mid-week being the cheapest) and see where that takes you.

[epsomraver]

Thanks for that .

[MrCheviot]

And FWIW Virgin Atlantic is a much more enjoyable flight vs. BA, at least IMO.

[epsomraver]

And FWIW Virgin Atlantic is a much more enjoyable flight vs. BA, at least IMO.

We usually have  traveled Virgin but they do not fly to Tampa only Orlando.just booked, it had gone up £100 from last weekend, had to move back a day, Wednesday for Thursday to get week end price.

[west kowloon white]

Once booked ,don't check what you might of got it for,just enjoy your holiday!!
Fare promotions,seat dumping etc very difficult to predict-if you are travelling over a school holiday period as opposed to off peak prob best grabbing what's on offer now..if flexible with your dates and off peak  might be worth sitting on your hands till after the Xmas/New Year booking peak.
Note the comments re BA vs Virgin-the US carriers are pretty ghastly to fly on-ALL of them-should be cheaper-but prob are not-don't know if you are searching airline sites or the likes of Expedia etc..
ENJOY

[west kowloon white]

Virgin fly to Miami (surely)where are heading for-Tampa not well served non stop from UK...

[epsomraver]

Tampa is our destination, we have flown Virgin to Orlando and driven across but BA are cheaper to Tampa and after having 6 hours of little Bertie crying his eyes out last trip I think as Tampa is not a children's destination it should be better.

[west kowloon white]

Might be cheaper hubbing through somewhere like Charlotte as we have done previously on American - v poor airline experience all round , if you are traveling with a 6 year old ,not worth the hassle,fly the flag-didn't know BA flew to Tampa.Anyway have a great time.

[Logicalman]

I tend to book up as far earlier as possible when doing US/UK flights, as the seats can fill up quickly, and with more than two people traveling together, you need to get those sorted sharpish or you can spend the time quite away apart.

As for who to choose? Virgin is always my #1, with BA second. I used to fly American, but with their contract problems over the past year, and 20% of flights being cancelled as a norm, I would rather be safe, although that can get tricky as they own the routes in the Midwest from the provincial airports (like Fort Wayne) to the large hubs, like Chicago, Cincinnati, Atlanta etc). Avoid Indian at all costs, my last trip with them was a disaster. Delta is the new AA over here, snapping up a lot of routes AA used to fly.

btw, where are you driving through? depends how old Bertie is, but the midwest and north western states are beautiful for driving, with spectacular sights.