Cheap Flight International

How does international flight pricing work?

I'm looking to fly from Canada to Egypt at the end of January 4 months from now. I'm looking around at prices and they seem to be around $1400CAD. BA is having a sale until tomorrow and the price is $1380 (wow, big savings). Anyhow, how does international flight pricing work? Am I for sure getting a good price booking 4 months ahead? Or is there a "sweet spot" in time closer to the departure when prices are lower? Or are they only going to get higher? Should I book now, or wait and shop?

Public Comments

1. I think you still have some time available. Use a consolidator site like lastminutetravel.com or something of that nature...try kayak.com. I think Expedia.com will e-mail you alerts when prices go down...priceline.com will do the same. It doesn't mean you have to purchase from them, but its a convenient service. I booked our trip to China about 4 weeks before we left. The price was the same if I booked 3 months in advance.
2. To get the best fare follow these 3 simple principles: 1. Find the right airline. Branded, flag carrier airliners usually cost more, such as Lufthansa, British Airways, United Airlines, etc… but there are rare desperate times when they lower their prices. So try to check them as well. 2. Timing and Season. Try to find out their lowest peek season on the internet. If the government has a tourism site, check that out first for travel advisory. 3. More connections, the better. Based on experience, having more connecting flights lessens the prices for your final destination. Although prepare yourself for hours waiting at the airport. Good luck. Follow these principles and you can get the best international fares at any destination.
3. For international flights, airlines have high and low seasons for traveling. For example if you plan on going to Hawaii around Oct, Nov this is called peak travel (high season), because this is the best time of the year to visit Hawaii. So expect prices to be high. Now, I don't know when Egypt's high or low season is but I would suggest finding that out. (You can always do that by contacting the airline directly) But remember if your visiting Egpyt during the time when all the travelers visit Egpyt than the fare that your being quoted is probably not going to drop any time soon, but most likely go up. If you go during the low season or off peak time than you can get a lower airfare. I would suggest changing your dates of travel as well. Don't travel on a weekend. Weekdays will get you a lower fare.
4. go to http://www.cheapflighttracker.com
5. the more the closer to your departure date the more higher you pay. it is more expensive if you purchase your ticket on the spot/ week before than purchasing the ticket months before. if i were you I would book now.