I don't claim to be an expert on the way airline ticket pricing works (can anyone claim to be an expert on this?), but I think that you don't have to jump on a ticket 330 days before traveling, even during a big holiday week.

You are almost certainly correct that the ticket prices won't get any lower, because there are rarely fare sales covering major holiday travel periods. But, at the same time, I don't think you'll see airfares getting higher this far out, either. You can probably safely wait a few days, weeks, or even months, and still book way in advance at similar fares. I'd probably go with your gut--if the prices and flight options are ok tomorrow, go for it--but I don't think it's 'now or never.'

And, on the very tiny chance that any sort of fare sale would apply to your dates of travel, those fares wouldn't even be in the system for several more months. If you were flying during an off-period, I'd actually advise you to wait for that to occur, but since you're flying on a holiday, that's not going to happen. There's still a chance, perhaps, that airlines release more buckets of semi-affordable seats closer to the actual dates when they can better gauge demand. In my experience, I have often booked Thanksgiving and Christmas tickets around August or September (on transcons)--obviously at higher prices than during the surrounding slow-travel weeks, but nonetheless at prices that were not yet through the roof. It often helps to be flexible +/- 1 day if you can.

Perhaps you should look to farecast.com for an opinion, if it has data covering your airports.

Anybody have more insight on this? In general, when is the right time to book holiday airline tickets? Is there such a thing as too early? When do the bulk of passengers book travel, and are they all paying exorbitant rates for the privilege of traveling on a crowded day? Is there a 'golden window' for getting the best deal?