As a graduate student responsible for purchasing my own tickets and a loyal United elite, the art of choosing when to buy a ticket on .bomb has become increasingly tricky these days. I fly to Europe for work a couple times a year, and benefited greatly from the years of cheap international fares. However, things have (quite obviously) changed...

For example, I know that I need to make two trips to London this fall (one from SFO, and one from the BOS area). In the past, I have been able to snag these tickets about 4-6 weeks in advance for around $400. However, given the cost of fuel (and the possibility of either a politically-caused spike in the price or a naturally-caused spike [hello hurricane season]), the likelihood of route reduction, and the general unpredictability of fare pricing, choosing when to jump on a fare has become increasingly difficult. Tools like Farecaster are relatively worthless for these types of international flights, and past history is no longer a viable indicator of future pricing.

So, my questions to all you knowledgeable souls is:

1) How have you adapted your long-term, flight-planning to balance airline loyalty with budgetary constraints? Do you prefer to pay more and buy ahead, or roll the dice and hope that Transatlantic prices dip (knowing full well that fuel surcharges could increase)?

2) What do you think the future holds for United's pricing? Will demand decrease this Fall to the point where fares fall closer to historic levels? Alternatively, will United's new moves cause S and T tickets to sell for $1000+?