How far in advance to purchase airline tickets to London

[timesharer]

In general, how far in advance should we purchase our airline tickets from the US to London to get the best deal? In general, when is the cut-off date before the fare increases drastically (3 months, 2 months, or 45 days)?

(We were shocked the June non-stop flight we were interested in went from $880 to $1400 in 10 days.)

We have an active search ongoing at DAE to try to find another week for us in the U.K., but with the apparent volatility in airline prices we are wondering whether we should give up on the ongoing search, and buy our airline tickets now, just based on the weeks we have confirmed.

 

[Pompey Family]

The earlier the better. There's no definitive cut off when prices increase, it's all down to supply and demand. Airlines do have a number of sales during the year but the dates are not advertised in advance. BA has just had a luxury sale and no doubt there will soon be a 'normal' sale but it's a bit of a gamble waiting for a sale that may not happen.