Best tactics for booking a large number of seats on a flight?
 

What are the best tactics for booking a large number of seats on a flight, particularly when it's within a few days of departure?

I know that when you book seats separately, i.e. one after another, there's a risk that the earlier purchases will drive up the prices for the later purchases, especially if there are a limited number of seats remaining on the flight.

Can this be avoided by purchasing all the seats together at the same time, i.e. as part of the same order?

It depends on how many you're going to buy. Most airlines have a limit above which your booking counts as a "group" (on AA for example it's either 8 or 10, I can never remember). Group bookings are handled separately from "normal" bookings so your best bet is to either call the airline or find a good travel agent.

If you're talking about 5 or 6 people then you're on your own. In that case there are pros and cons to how you book them. If you book them together then oftentimes you'll all land in the same fare bucket, which may not be the cheapest one. For instance, if there are 2 seats at the cheapest price and you search for 3 then, in my experience, you'll see the 3 seats available in the next bucket up. So in that sense you should book your group separately, except that has its own issues (FF benefits, irops treatment, for example).

I agree with all that dfw88 said. When we are booking for the family-which could be 4-8 people, I always price 1 seat first-just to see lowest price. That way, I know if the volume of our seats is kicking us up and I need to break up the reservation. If your group is large enough for group reservations-that's good. Some airlines don't require you to commit to the manifest until 21-30 days out. Good luck!

What is a "large" number? Do you mean 20 or 50?

Thanks, all. Let's say we're talking about 12 tickets, and let's say it's three days out from departure. It sounds like the group ticketing route would be the way to go then?

In that case, what would be the implications for pricing? Would we likely be able to get the current price (for a single ticket) applied for all 12 tickets? Or would something else happen?

Why not just book them all at once at the price you want to pay? If you stagger, you will be more likely to have prices start to climb.

That's not how RM/IM algorithms work.

Try pricing 1 ticket, then 2 tickets, then 3 and so on, until you hit a break point. Book that number and you will have the lowest price possible for that many tickets. Then start again and book as many as you can at the next highest price and so on.

Doubtful that group pricing helps you hear as you are close enough in that the names of the travelers ought to be set and you likely don't now need flexibility.

One thing I would not do is delay. No idea what carrier or where you are headed, but the last few seats on almost any aircraft are going to b e eye-poppingly expensive.

Also, with flights being cancelled through being empty on so many routes currently, it might not be a bad idea to lock in those seats. Over on the BA thread, there's much discussion about how they've recently gone down to only one HKG-LHR and then a last minute surge of bookings meant that it was way beyond full.

What route & aircraft type? 12 on B777 is nothing. 12 on an ERJ mini jet is a lot.
May be the task for a real live walking talking travel agent. Not an OTA (on line travel agent = computer programmer)