Purchasing Airline Tickets Early

[simphhcc]

If you purchase an airline ticket about 6 or 7 months before your cruise, do you stand more of a chance that there will be a change in the time of your flight departure/return. I will be flying east/west coast and don't really want to take the chance of having a flight time returning home changed to a later time because if so, I will be actually arriving home the following day (boarding on a friday and arriving home on Saturday) flying from west coast to east coast.

[Cruise Fanatic]

One never knows what the airlines will do. It's a crap shoot.

[Jim C.]

That chance is why we try to fly in the night before. That way changes or flight delays won't ruin a cruise. If the airline changes a flight schedule, you can typically call them and the will move your flight without charging you.

AA chagned our flight time for next month, but since they changed it so we leave earlier, I don't care. Otherwie we would be looking for a hotel room and having them fly us out the day before.

[LisaP]

I tend to book early for vacations (as there are three of us) and last-minute for business (as I often don't get a lot of lead time). It certainly makes sense that the longer the time until the flight, the more chances there are for the airlines to make changes, yet that has happened to me just a few times. What is far more common is for a flight to be delayed, which I know first-hand can be brutal if you are traveling from the west to east coast. (My last trip, I was supposed to arrive in Boston at 11:00 pm; our actual time was 1:15 am -- but this is an extreme example.)

As Jim noted, you can call the airline should the flight schedule change, and they will usually rebook you to another flight without charge.

[peter l]

My daughter and party (5 adults 4 children) made their flight arrangements months ago for trip to Orlando on Delta. She got word yesterday that the flight is ok from the starting point but the flight out of Atlanta has been cancelled and they will be on standby. We, as a similiar group two years ago flying Delta had problems half way and on the way back as well. If I have a choice, I will not book Delta again. I do realize that most airlines are not what they used to be. Good luck.
I should be talking; we are flying out tomorrow am for Miami on Delta !?

Peter1

[LisaP]

Peter, when is your daughter's flight?