Book Emirates flight early or late?

[survival machine]

I'm thinking of going to Thailand in December and the price on Emirates is £100 more than i paid in May which i expected. The Price of the May flight never changed for all the months i was looking at it and i booked 4 weeks before.The flight was far from full.

 

I'm worried if i put off booking the December flight the price will rise as i expect it to be busy. Any ideas if it would be better to book early or late and if the price is likely to change much?

 

I could pay it next month at the earliest 

[drift35]

I booked on Emirates for a late January flight. I did it about a month ago. I think the better flight times and airlines fill up first. The last trip I booked closer to my trip time and Emirates wasn't an option as their flights were full. I have also read to expect cheaper fare in the fall for all airlines, so who knows?

 

Personally I feel better once I have my flight booked.

[tuk]

As long as there are no more bombs, I think your flight is more likely to go up than down if you leave it.

 

Find the cheapest provider on Skyscanner who are offering the flight, proceed to checkout and take a screenshot of the charges, then go book the flight directly on Emirates website(it will be more expensive) ...then send Emirates screenshot and they will refund the difference, be sure to read the T&Cs so you qualify.

[survival machine]

I booked on Emirates for a late January flight. I did it about a month ago. I think the better flight times and airlines fill up first. The last trip I booked closer to my trip time and Emirates wasn't an option as their flights were full. I have also read to expect cheaper fare in the fall for all airlines, so who knows?

 

Personally I feel better once I have my flight booked.

 

My problem is i've only decided in the last few days to try make this trip happen. I was waiting till May but i can't handle that. So at this time i can't be 100% sure i'll have the money to go. Suppose if i book the flight i'll need to make it happen

[Harvey707]

Book it now if you're flying December. Every other month of the year I book 2-3 weeks before departure for best results albeit I'm not fussy who I fly with. December though is different and prices always move in one direction

[THAJEC]

I buy flights usually 6-9 months prior to departure to the BKG. Airfare approaching the flight does not decrease significantly, especially in terms of December.Conversely, the best flights with good times are usually sold out. It can be surely on each of the routes from different destinations are different, but I transgress in Dubai and usually I'm also addicted to the fullness of flights from Dubai. I personally bought a ticket rather soon. at this time.

[evermore39]

December is high season so it's unlikely prices will drop or even stay even, chances are they'll increase in time.

[taylor1975]

I got a £430 flight in december with qatar. Its already at £520 now.

 

Book asap is my opinion.

[T-T-T]

if its for the xmas and new year period I would take the price  personally. Xmas and and new year get very busy and you can be looking at over £1000 for economy leave it to late and sometimes you have trouble getting  a seat at any price

 

doubt prices will drop for this time period.  it might for early december but the full on xmas best get it booked.

 

But I have been told to wait to after the weekend and try again around tuesday as lots of holiday firms take booking and hold for 48 hours for customers at busy times like the weekend who then fail to confirm and seats can become avaialble again. So it might be worth just waiting till then but I can not Guarentee that :-)

 

Put a price alert on sky scanner they email you every time the price moves

[survival machine]

Unfortunately i won't have the money to pay it for another 3 weeks but i'm almost certain now i'm going. Just need to hope it doesn't go up too much but i'll take everybody's advice and book as soon as possible

 

thanks

[survival machine]

O.k so i checked Emirates again just now and the flights for my dates are now sold out unless i want to fly for over 20 hours for the same price which i just can't handle. Absolutely gutted. Already booked the hotel but that can be cancelled easy enough. 

 

Does anybody know if i can receive any notification of cancellations? 

[Shaygate]

I've been trying for years to work out when the best time to book a flight is, prices go up and down seemingly at random. I've booked as cheaply as £430 and as expensive as £640 I've come to the conclusion that often it can be blind luck getting the cheapest flight.

 

The only caveat to that seems to be Christmas time flights, I've never seem their price come down significantly only always increasing as the time draws near.

[hammerman]

O.k so i checked Emirates again just now and the flights for my dates are now sold out unless i want to fly for over 20 hours for the same price which i just can't handle. Absolutely gutted. Already booked the hotel but that can be cancelled easy enough. 

 

Does anybody know if i can receive any notification of cancellations? 

Thats the problem, there are only so many of the cheaper seats on each flight, then the price skips to a higher bracket.

Emirates have a lot of flights from the uk via dubai, with really short stopovers and these are going to be the first to go. With the added

problem of the dubai bkk flights taking passengers from all over europe etc through to Bangkok plus anyone from the Emirates. So that portion of the flight

will be the one that invariably gets sold out. Nov and December more so. If you think the prise is OK, book ASAP.

With the airlines now in so many Alliances and codeshares, you hardly ever get a late deal on flights.

[survival machine]

Thats the problem, there are only so many of the cheaper seats on each flight, then the price skips to a higher bracket.

Emirates have a lot of flights from the uk via dubai, with really short stopovers and these are going to be the first to go. With the added

problem of the dubai bkk flights taking passengers from all over europe etc through to Bangkok plus anyone from the Emirates. So that portion of the flight

will be the one that invariably gets sold out. Nov and December more so. If you think the prise is OK, book ASAP.

With the airlines now in so many Alliances and codeshares, you hardly ever get a late deal on flights.

 

Was surprised at how quick they went tho this early. It's turning into a disaster now as the hotel price has gone up another 40 quid. So that's about £140 more i'll be paying in two days and having to change dates.

 

I'm still gona try cause it is Pattaya we're talking about  

[ljc]

I paid £767 in june with emirates for a flight at xmas its now £1067, so get it booked mate.

[survival machine]

I paid £767 in june with emirates for a flight at xmas its now £1067, so get it booked mate.

 

Trying mate but needing to borrow money now and Saturday is the earliest i can do it. 

 

Might be took out of my hands by then

[Harvey707]

Was surprised at how quick they went tho this early. It's turning into a disaster now as the hotel price has gone up another 40 quid. So that's about £140 more i'll be paying in two days and having to change dates.

 

I'm still gona try cause it is Pattaya we're talking about  

 

Tell me the dates you want  ??   What are you being asked to pay now ??   I'll find you'll the deal

[survival machine]

Tell me the dates you want  ??   What are you being asked to pay now ??   I'll find you'll the deal

 

I originally planned going the 13th - 28th this was £587 when i checked 3 days ago- this was sold out yesterday, now showing £724

 

Ideal dates are from 12th-15th for 14/15 days

 

Only thing is i can't stomach the 20+ hour flight duration and all the cheaper 16 hour flights are gone

 

Thanks Harvey, appreciate you taking the time and effort

[survival machine]

Tell me the dates you want  ??   What are you being asked to pay now ??   I'll find you'll the deal

Flying out of Glasgow Harvey preferably 

[Sarse500]

Where are you flying from?  Where are you prepared to fly from?  

[Sarse500]

Just seen the X-post.  There are flights out there - you may need to compromise on stopovers to save some cash.

 

The easiest tool to use is Google Flights.  That is showing £481 on the 11th via Dublin on Etihad leaving n the 11th.

 

Also £584 leaving on the 12th returning 27th on Emirates, with a 20 hour journey time.

 

Have a play around and see what you can find!

[hammerman]

There is a qatar flight out of edinburgh with short stopovers at £632 on your preferred dates.

more difficult from glasgow with short stopovers. Save £100 but you got to get to Edinburgh and back, also balance the extra time

that takes against longer stopovers.

[hammerman]

Just seen the X-post.  There are flights out there - you may need to compromise on stopovers to save some cash.

 

The easiest tool to use is Google Flights.  That is showing £481 on the 11th via Dublin on Etihad leaving n the 11th.

 

Also £584 leaving on the 12th returning 27th on Emirates, with a 20 hour journey time.

 

Have a play around and see what you can find!

The OP is probably aware but: The Dublin flight = 2 x stopovers, 

[Sarse500]

The OP is probably aware but: The Dublin flight = 2 x stopovers, 

 Yes - should have made that clear.  And it's 6 hours in Dublin, I think.

[survival machine]

There is a qatar flight out of edinburgh with short stopovers at £632 on your preferred dates.

more difficult from glasgow with short stopovers. Save £100 but you got to get to Edinburgh and back, also balance the extra time

that takes against longer stopovers.

 

Found flights going 14th - 29th for £680 so would pay that rather than £630 for the reasons you're saying plus that little extra cost to Edinburgh and back