Originally Posted by moondog

The reason I searched for close in flights instead of flights 8 months from now is because most airlines don't offer good fares 8 months in advance. They know (through their data models) that they can squeeze more money out of people who must travel on specific dates far out. Furthermore, many airlines don't finalize their winter schedules until August or September, so there's a risk of selling flights that might not operate, might upgauge/downgauge, or schedules will no longer facilitate nice connections (probably not the case with LAS-ICN or ICN-BKK, but it's still an area of uncertainty). I'm not claiming that February fares will be the exact same as current fares after they start releasing more inventory, but I'm willing to bet they will be much closer to $900 than $1300. The earliest I'd try to book a February flight (using money) is during September. I doubt I would pull the trigger until the second half of October, though.

I don't use physical travel agents so often these days either. However, I usually call a handful when I want to fly on airlines like KE, CI, BR, or OZ. They are still an important sales channel for these carriers outside of their home markets.