It depends—when do you need to travel? How long will you need to stay? How flexible are you on departure and arrival airports?

Generally no, transatlantic airfares do not get cheaper as departure date gets closer—quite the contrary, in fact. I have seen Orbitz in the US advertise hotel refunds; seems like maybe it was them or another seller doing the same for airfares. However, I don’t know of any sellers in Canada do that—maybe there are some? I think a better strategy is to be as flexible as possible and lock in a good fare when you see one.

There is no set time that is absolutely best, but tickets generally get more expensive as you get closer to your travel dates, especially during peak travel times. Sales may pop up six months out, or two or three months out. It can be quite tough to predict. When are you planning to travel?

im leaving sometime around the end of april. were looking into the 24 now, and the departure and arrival doesnt matter either.

and as it stands right now we are planning on staying for 4 months but i might stay longer if i think i can handle it on my own. or i might fly to oz after and meet some friends.

Staying more than 90 days… be sure to check visa requirements. You might only get 90 days max. See the “nifty visa-checking tool” link at the top of this forum.

Since it sounds like you’re flexible, check out www.canadianaffair.c… for flights to the UK, then book onward to Spain, Italy, etc. with Easyjet or another low-cost airline. Just beware the luggage limits—especially with Ryanair. Check out Whichbudget.com, Skyscanner.net and the links and strategies in our new user thread @ top of this forum.