Not necessary, fares vary a lot at different periods.

At the moment they are high, and look to be staying that way for the foreseeable future.

The only ‘trick’ that still works, is if you’re planning to fly to Dubai, it’s often cheaper, or only slightly more, to book a stopover in Dubai and fly to somewhere like Bangkok or Delhi.

Its often a good value to upgrade with miles.

If you’re flying from Europe, some airports are more expensive than others. Heathrow for example is always expensive. It’s easy enough to position yourself somewhere like Amsterdam, Madrid, Copenhagen etc, and sometimes get a cheaper fare. I don’t know which airports are currently cheap, so don’t take my word for Amsterdam etc. But try various European airports and compare.