Star Alliance - Do ticket prices go down closer to departure?

What is your suggesting on how to get the best *A revenue ticket from Beijing <-> Seoul, leave September 30th, return October 7th?

May of this year we took the same trip. Using Kayak.com, prices are about 18% higher than in May. October 1st is a major Chinese holiday.

Should we wait for a month or two to see if the prices go down or are they likely to continue to rise as we approach the holiday and go ahead and accept the price increase?

Thanks.

Much more likely to rise than to decrease as you get closer to dep.

If I really had to travel on those dates, and I knew that there was a major holiday, then I would bite the bullet now and purchase my tickets. But that's me.

What is your suggesting on how to get the best *A revenue ticket from Beijing <-> Seoul, leave September 30th, return October 7th?

May of this year we took the same trip. Using Kayak.com, prices are about 18% higher than in May. October 1st is a major Chinese holiday.

Should we wait for a month or two to see if the prices go down or are they likely to continue to rise as we approach the holiday and go ahead and accept the price increase?

Thanks.

Prices as a rule do not go down closer to departure..they go up. Major Holdiday? Book now.

OK, thanks.

I am all in for booking as early as you can when you see a nice price.

However, prices can go down when the carrier is offering a promotion. E.g., I booked a ticket this at the beginning of this month with Air France because it was a quite low fare for the summer in July (860EU AMS-NRT), but few weeks later (now), Lufthansa, SAS etc are offering fares for like 650EU for that roundtrip. Kind of bumped, but it does happen that fares go down with promotions, even during holiday seasons. Should have kept my eyes on promotions news.

Though this is for long haul flights. Anyways, +1 for book now.

Another way to do this is to buy a fully refundable fare(will cost ya) but then when a sale (pray hard) does come on, get the cheaper ticket and refund the original one.

What is your suggesting on how to get the best *A revenue ticket from Beijing <-> Seoul, leave September 30th, return October 7th?

May of this year we took the same trip. Using Kayak.com, prices are about 18% higher than in May. October 1st is a major Chinese holiday.

Should we wait for a month or two to see if the prices go down or are they likely to continue to rise as we approach the holiday and go ahead and accept the price increase?

Thanks.

IMO -
If you buy months in advance, you will not get the cheapest price... but you will not get the most expensive. In my experience, it seems months in advance you get a best price +10% or 20%.

Close to best price (IMO) - about 6 weeks prior - if tickets are not selling like hotcakes.

Best price (IMO) - 21 day advance, again, assuming no holiday and only moderate sales. Easily you can get stung by this strategy. If tickets are selling well, prices are going to be higher... maybe much higher.