when i consider buying a ticket, the question i ask myself is: is this a fair price for the ticket or is this an amount i want to spend to take this trip?

if the answer is no, i don't buy. if the answer is yes, CO.O.L...here i come.

i don't try to predict if a particularly itinerary is going to go up or down because they answer is "yes," it will. and, if it goes down, who says that i will be at my computer? and, who says i will be on CO.O.L?

My crystal ball says prices do go down. It also says your chances of waiting for a cheaper fare aren't good if oil hits $200/bbl by the end of the year.

Edit: I used to fly all over Texas for $19 one way, tax included, but that damn crystal ball says the odds of that are somewhere less than hell freezing over.

If less than $300 RT - then buy now - for any destinations in the USA. If the price is high - say $600-800, then I would look at the seat maps - and if they are wide open - then I might wait - otherwise you might have the best price now.

I think you will see airlines cancelling flights and consolidating traffic before they start to significantly drop fares - based on today's situation (high fuel prices). And it could get worst - there could be a panic and things start to shut down (did you see the CNN show last weekend on what happens when oil goes over $200 and gas goes to $10 a gallon.)

Gasoline is already $10 a gallon in parts of Europe. Gas is $0.45 a gallon in the middle east. Could be that the Middle East airlines - like Emirates take over as the new world carriers as others go out of business.

Thank you for the suggestion - I hadn't thought of that.

EDIT: H fare is 300 bucks more and the Y is over 600 bucks more than the B fare. I think I may hold off for now. All this panic talk is self-fulfiliing.

Welcome to FlyerTalk, RosemaryNJ

IMO you can wait. There should be a sale from competing airlines.
However, in order to catch that sale - you'd have to keep on checking prices regularly. Do you have some time on your hands?

Are you willing to fly from/to different airports, or on different airlines?
or limited to Continental, EWR and PBI?

- how about Orlando or Miami in FL
- other 3 NY area airports, or even Baltimore/Washington, Philadelphia?

What travel tools are you using to find fares?

So the drill is this: Saudis jack up price of oil, get more dollar and prop up their own airlines. High price of oil destroys american airlines. Saudis take over...

While either of these might save a few bucks, the additional cost to drive a few hours at one or both ends of the trip, plus the additional drive time has to be worth more than the $95 difference from last year. Or maybe I place too much value on my own time. But driving to BWI to catch a flight unless you already are in PHL is going to cost more in fuel than you can reasonably expect to save.

The OP is a new poster, and has not given us any details of personal travel preferences.

I know a bunch of people who drive between NY-WAS, and across entire Florida nearly every weekend for no good reason (well that's my opinion ).
I think they waste money on gas, they say it is fun to do.

There are trains & buses with sometimes very cheap fares, or friends who might be willing to offer a ride.

This trip sounds like a vacation. If that is the case, the traveler might be interested in adding a mini-vacation(s), via detour to WAS or a visit to Universal Studios.

Personally, I enjoy exploring Baltimore, and welcome any opportunity to fly out of there

So, just in case OP is interested, my thoughts & ideas are out there now , for his or her consideration

You had me going there for a sec

Should be on Omni... however note that a large portion of this is the decline of the US Dollar caused in large part by... well... the rest of this thought belongs squarely in Omni.

I'm surprised this hasn't come up; I know it must've been discussed extensively before around here:

http://www.farecast.com

Not all city pairs are served but it's the best approximation for a crystal ball that I know of.

I think that is the best judgment for buying or not. Sure you may not want to spend $600 on a transcon, but an event like a fueral or family emergency might make a last minute (say, 3 day advance) purchase a different fair price than a personal trip.
I've never done NY-FL routes, so I don't know what is a fair or standard price, but $145 that the OP paid last year seems like a pretty good (maybe even great) price (considering capacity and LCC competition on FL routes). But, I don't know if $230 is what the OP considers fair or how necessary the trip is...

Drill, Saudi, Jack, Oil....nice multi-pun going on there!

It is NOT a crystal ball. It is a historical trending tool. If one assumes that fares should match what they historically were then it is a pretty good resource. I think that is a pretty bad assumption right now.

Oh, and FareCast shows the bottom at ~$200 and trending upwards right now.

Certainly does happen. Indeed just happened with me today. For last few days I have been looking at a BF ticket from EWR-LHR - week before last lowest fare was USD 2,700 then last weekend fare became USD 2040 because CO changd window for BF sale from 60 days to 30 days. Up till last night fare was USD 2040. Tonight I checked and the same fare was USD 1840 (I bought two BF tickets tonight at this fare).