The Type-A Travelers Already Booking Their 2024 Vacations

The Atlanta credit manager is literally counting the days until she can shop for airline tickets for a June 2024 trip to Italy. She’s already booked a weeklong European cruise with her husband departing from Rome, and they want their pick of Delta Air Lines flights.

“I like to get things out of the way," the 51-year-old says.

Major airlines open their schedules about 11 months in advance, making this the time of year early birds start thinking about flying next summer. That’s especially true for trips to hot spots like Europe, where soaring demand this summer and last sent ticket prices into the stratosphere. Some with set plans—and budgets of cash or points—want to get an early jump.

Major airlines including Delta, American and United have in recent years eliminated those steep ticket change fees and fees to redeposit miles for most ticket types except basic economy. That all makes booking so far in advance less risky. Keep in mind that should you change your plans, any fare drop is likely to be issued in the form of a travel voucher, not cash, unless it’s a refundable ticket.

Already on alert

Renee Hussar is an unapologetic advance booker. The 47-year-old scientist in Sacramento, Calif., booked tickets to Germany nearly a year in advance of a December 2020 trip that was canceled by the pandemic.

Now she’s ready to pounce on business-class tickets from San Francisco to Paris as soon as they go on sale in early July.

She’s planning a three-week trip to France and Italy next May with two aunts. Her retired relatives aren’t early bookers, so she set up Google alerts early this year to track general prices between San Francisco and Europe several months in advance. One early price she found is now nearly double the starting price of over $4,000, she says.

“Only once, for a brief moment, did they ever get below the [initial] price," she says.

Airlines say super early bookers, whether cashing in miles or buying tickets, are in the minority. A United spokeswoman says most of its MileagePlus members aren’t booking past December 2023 right now.

Whether you should join the advance booking club depends on whom you ask.

For those looking to save, Travel app Hopper says its data shows airline ticket prices more than 10 months out tend to be “incredibly high." For Europe, it recommends travelers start shopping and setting up alerts five to seven months in advance, with the sweet spot to purchase usually three to four months out. Online travel giant Expedia says travelers can save an average of 10% when booking international flights online six months out.

Minneapolis travel adviser Katie Franks is a fan of tracking prices as soon as the 11-month window opens, regardless of the destination. She sets up alerts in Google Flights for clients and her family and keeps an eye on deals sites like Thrifty Traveler for airfare and miles specials so they can pounce if a deal pops up. For Europe bookings, she likes to lock in flights eight to 10 months in advance.

“I wish there was a crazy science to it," she says.

Cottman follows her own formula. She has a plan ready as soon as flights to Rome become available in July. She hopes to fly in Delta’s extra-legroom economy section and will check the airline’s website to see how much that will cost in miles or cash. She’ll also reach out to Royal Caribbean to see if they offer a better deal through their air program.

Travelers with a stash of frequent-flier miles have been booking award tickets the second airlines open their schedule for decades, says Gary Leff, an executive and frequent flier who writes the travel blog View From the Wing.

That’s in part because of the misconception that most airlines release their best miles offers at that time.

“The best deals are not when the schedule loads," he says. “The best deals on points are where the airline doesn’t think they’re going to sell the seats. A year in advance there’s only so much they know for sure."

International airlines tend to offer the best mileage redemption rates in advance, Leff says. He has three award trips on the books for late this year and early next year, on Etihad, ANA and Qatar.

He booked the multicity trip that includes Etihad’s famed apartment in the sky nine months in advance and cashed in 235,000 miles a person round trip.

Beware schedule changes

Booking airline tickets in advance isn’t risk-free. The biggest problem: Those annoying schedule changes as airlines firm up their plans. That nonstop can turn into a connecting flight.

Flights can even disappear as airlines firm up their schedules. You do have rights in those cases, though.

Veteran frequent flier Michael Hyman, who lives in New Jersey and says he has amassed more than 1.6 million miles on United and American, is booking more spontaneous, last-minute trips after his recent retirement from consulting. He says those who don’t book in advance shouldn’t rule out these trips. Mileage deals often pop up late.

He doesn’t like many of the ticket prices or mileage deals he sees nearly a year in advance. But he doesn’t fault travelers who book now, especially given the relaxed change rules.

“If this is your one big trip of the year and you have enough miles for the tickets, book it," he says. “You can always get a refund for the difference later."

Once you make your way-ahead reservation, the work isn’t done. The key, Leff says, is to “garden" that reservation the way you would a flight three months out. Watch prices on the route closely using the airline’s website or app or other online search sites and jump on any better offers.

“If you don’t have the best deal from the outset, keep watching because prices may go down," he says. “That’s true for miles and that’s true for cash tickets."