do airlines reduce prices the closer to departure date ? trying to fly to bangkok in 4 weeks time?

I'm a former travel agent who specialised in the Far East. It basically breaks down to whether you take a scheduled flight of you are booking a chartered holiday. For scheduled flights, they release set numbers of seats in various price ranges. The cheapest tickets always sell out first, so the closer you get to the date you want to travel, the more expensive your flight will be - especially to somewhere like Thailand, which is a popular destination.

With charter flights and holidays, the holiday company (Thompson etc) has already paid for all the seats on the flight and they are usually all sold at the same price. If they don't fill the flight, they make a loss so they may offered reduced prices on vacant seats to still make some money. With these trips, however, you generally have to take accommodation at one of their hotels you do not have the freedom of choosing exactly when you come or go.

In my experience, you're better to book on scheduled airlines (Thai, Malaysia etc) and the best time to book is 2 -3 months before you fly. Airlines generally will not release the cheap seats until about 3 months before you fly. Also, there are certain times of year when you get better deals; avoid school holidays for starters. Also, late September/ early October, early March and May / June tend to feature airline deals.

If the prices are too high, it's worth looking at a tailormade package. If you book 3 nights accommodation (different rules apply to each ticket and each airline) you can end up paying less for the package than you would for the flight.

Realistically, though, £470 is about right in this time frame, especially when you consider that probably over £100 of that is on airport taxes and other taxes. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if you wait longer, you'll pay more.

It used to be that airlines reduced seat prices at the last minute, now they do the reverse - the further in advance you book the better the price you will get. I have no idea whether the price you are paying is high or low as you don't say where you are flying from. A good travel agent should be able to advise you, and the internet is full of bargain tickets.

No. I've actually found that flights go up in price if there is a sudden big demand! Sometimes the waiting game works but I was disappointed last year when I tried as prices shot back up suddenly. Generally prices get higher first in June, then in July and really high in August. Things get back to normal mid-September after the school holidays.Good luck

This can be a difficult postion to be in. Especially for an international flight.

In most cases, the actual fare will do nothing but increase closer in to travel date. So yes, your best bet may be to grab the seats now.

As you mentioned, this flight typically has empty seats. Often, an airline will "float out" it premium fare tickets in the hopes they will be grabbed up early.

Nowadays (at least on US domestic flights) its not unusual to see them dump some cheaper fares out at last minute to fill up the plane. But DONT COUNT on this as a strategy. You might miss the boat....er, plane.

My advice....buy early. But dont hesitate to press hard with the airline and ask the tough question...

"what is the exchange/downgrade policy should this fare do down prior to travel but after purchase"

Sometimes they may work with you.....

The best thing is just to ASK ASK ASK.

Good luck!

Nope.. it does not happen.

In very RARE occasions, they can do that, but.. we can say this never happens.. it cost quite a lot to "refile" fares and make it cheaper to fulfill the plane.. they try to complete with CARGO instead..

The criteria the seats are sold is from the "cheaper fare" to the "more expensive fares"... meaning, the longer you wait, least chances you will have to get the cheaper fares.

No the closer you get to the departure the more expensive the the flight cost. So book as quickly as you can.

Try these sites, my son goes regularly to Thailand and these are the sites he usually uses to get cheap flights. He always books last minute if possible.

http://www.airline-network.co.uk/specialoffersgate...

http://www.opodo.co.uk/

http://uk.travelzoo.com/

You can always just turn up at the airport on the day and ask them to put you on the next available seat to Bankok, those can work out surprisingly cheap. But you can be waiting hours or even over night.

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It used to book last mint flight ticket through Rehlat seat prices at the last minute are cheap compare to other travel sites,and my suggestion the further in advance you book the better the price you will get. good travel site they can able to advise you.

www.rehlat.com

Sometimes you get a last minute deal but you also take the chance of not being able to get a seat.