Should I book holiday travel now or wait for price drops?
Travelers get stuck between a standard two-month rule to wait for price drops and warnings that holiday flights will only spike during that window. This conflicting advice leaves people completely unsure whether to lock in an entire itinerary weeks in advance or leave things open to travel at their own pace.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Booking the flight now and rebooking later for a credit if the price drops, taking advantage of airline credit policies.Did this help you?
- 2Typically booking everything before travelingDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“So I don't know what to do.”source ↗
“people insist that I wait until October to hit that 2-month (rule of thumb for people that travel ) window to see if the prices drop.”source ↗
“I have heard people say that waiting until October is not a good idea because flights being scheduled over holidays Spike in October and usually don't drop till after the holidays. So I don't know what to do.”source ↗
“I am also wondering if it would be a bad idea to not have the entire itinerary booked before arriving to the Philippines.”source ↗
“I value freedom and would be interested in traveling at my own pace and just finding hotels/hostels as I go.”source ↗
“Or is this just a terrible idea and should have everything booked weeks prior?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 5Should I book flights through third-party sites or direct with the airline?
- 4Should I drive or fly for vacation?
- 3Should I fly early or wait to book holiday flights?
- 7Is a short weekend trip worth the time and money?
- 4Do wedding guests actually need a hotel block and shuttle?
- 2Should we cancel our trip if our toddler has a fever?