Hi

we are looking to book flights to head back to uk at xmas, the prices have been fairly similar for the last 4 mths, we are actually looking at the xmas day night flight and trying to second guess whether or not they may go down in price or not if we leave it a bit later to book? At the same time dont want to pay anymore than the current price!

Know its a bit of an unknown, but wonder if anyone happens to have insiders view as to what may happen!

Thanks for any info

Yes - It is a bit of an unknown. There is no inside track on specials. Usually the discounted fares are available at around 90 days before departure. Christmas Day and Jan 1 are cheaper days to fly. Seats are sold by price class (nothing to do with economy, business etc.), once one class sells out the next one goes on sale for a higher price. If it was me I would wait until 90 days before and take a chance on it. If the fare you are being offered is acceptable then take it now and be sure of the seat.

In the past, traditionally you could often grab a deal on Christmas Day. However, many travellers got wise to this. Obviously if the flight fills up, the fares will go up a class as mentioned. If nearer the time, the planners can see the flight isn't selling, that's when the discount carrot may be dangled. Maybe?

I flew London to Vancouver on Christmas day 2005 on a flight that was less than 50% full. The flight on the adjacent gate going town the Seychelles didn't have a single spare seat.

I've had a quick butchers at a Toronto - LHR cheapest flight for Christmas Day with B.A. Strangely, there is a cheaper fare available on Christmas Eve for the outbound sector. The Cheapest available fare for the Toronto - Heathrow portion of a return, departing Christmas day was $332 whilst the day before, there was a fare showing available for $301. Of course, that could easily change in minutes.

Of course, those above fares don't include tax. :-(

Thanks for the input so far, its sooo hard to know what to do!, trouble is if i book now I am not the type of person to not keep looking and then get pig sick if i see it fall in price!

we have kids in tow, so only looking at the halifax- heathrow direct flight so its just the one flight available

My advice would be if the price is reasonable, book it, then forget about it. Getting the absolutely best deal just isn't always possible.

Note that public transport to or from Heathrow on Christmas day is problematic, to say the least; so it may be a cheaper flight but if you're not going into London on the underground you might end up having to take a taxi or hire a car to wherever you're going.

we will be being picked up by family so that end isnt an issue

We've flown on Christmas day at least twice (not Halifax Heathrow, but transatlantic) for the very reason that it has been much cheaper. Both times were booked closer to the date though. The children didn't mind it too much either as the airline staff tend to be in jovial mood! Having said that, eldest child has now said she does not want to do the same again this year - wants to have her first proper Christmas in NS

We flew to the UK with AC on Christmas Eve last year because it was significantly cheaper - I think we booked it probably about a month beforehand. You can sign up for AC's weekly web specials so you don't miss it if the price drops down a bit.

The flight is currently wide open (9s everywhere is good, lots of seats still for sale). The seat map is very, very empty:

J9 C9 D9 Z9 Y9 B9 M9 U0 H9 Q9 V9 W9 S9 L9

However, the lowest fare currently available is in the Q fare bucket. You may see a seat sale with fares in some of the lower buckets, but Q is actually pretty cheap for that time of year. There is however a 7 day advance purchase. I think you could safely wait a bit, but am not sure you will see anything better. No panic at the moment though, this flight isn't going to fill up. I would be careful about the return, that could be a different story as flights to CAN after Xmas can be very full. PM me again if you want me to take another look at availability etc.

Hi Nikki,

We were looking at going back at Christmas time as well, but were put off by the prices, so i think we'll leave it to April or May next year.Air Canada at the moment are offering a return for about $1000, which includes a connecting flight to Glasgow.
I'll be keeping an eye on it, so i'll let you know if i see anything.

thanks very much for your help, I had not really thought about the return flight, that is a good point re that one getting booked up sooner than the outbound flight

by flying xmas day evening its half the price of going on say the 23rd, still expensive though!

Fares drop on the 24th.

We flew out from Ottawa to LHR on Xmas eve night last year. Plane was pretty busy, probably because it was massively cheaper than the day before.

As that flight is overnight though, we arrived Xmas Day morning jet-lagged to all hell and wanting to sleep by the time the pudding was eaten.

As was said, not so much transport from Heathrow - any in fact. Have to have family/friends lined up to meet you to make the cost saving worthwhile.

I was disappointed by the fact that staff didn't have santa hats or other kitsch Christmas differences on the flight. No carols on the tanoy. All we got was a lousy cake with an Xmas tree on it...