Do you book far in advance? If so what's the benefit?

[Cherrypie]

Originally Posted by Palm trees

We are tied to school holidays so that's a big thing for us.

However just as importantly I am undeniably the type of person who actively enjoys (hard to emphasise how much!) Knowing that my trip is booked... even if it's just the villa so far in relation to our next trip.

I've got a countdown!. It makes me very very happy, that's all I can say really. My husband claims to humour me. I actually think that he feels the same way!

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Totally this.
I know OP said they mean no offence but planners and early bookers always get slated.
Wouldn’t dream of saying OMG you don’t plan or OMG you book so late - each to their own I suppose x

[floridafan101]

I’ve certainly seen late bargain flights at all times of the year and in fact I was only looking at flights for when we go this year and yes there are some slightly cheaper and with better connections than the ones we booked last autumn.
However I have found again and again that the rooms we booked early on when we’d booked flights are not available. When you want rooms for 4 or 5 it’s more difficult to find a bargain than a room for 2.
So where I would love to be more spontaneous sometimes and wait until later the reality is I think i would pay more in the end which might mean we don’t go to Florida as often as we do!

[SquishTheWhale]

Originally Posted by Cherrypie

Totally this.
I know OP said they mean no offence but planners and early bookers always get slated.
Wouldn’t dream of saying OMG you don’t plan or OMG you book so late - each to their own I suppose x

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Totally- a woman at my work always books everything so late, fine that's what you like to do. But then she always has to make snarky little comments at me and another lady about booking a year or more out! Last I heard being organised was a good quailty, not a bad one.

[ERICSMUM]

I think you’re wrong to describe it as ‘crazy’ just because it doesn’t suit you !

[slaleyhall]

Free dining for us so needs to be booked well in advance. So I booked last year on 30th March and fly on 26th April and have just booked for next year. We booked our flights in August when virgin had a sale but as my hubby is 6"5 we would never risk leaving flights to the last min and risk him not getting an extra leg room sear and us not being sat near him. So for us we need and wabt to do that for our family. I can see if there is only 2 of you, how you could easily wait until the last min for flights and not sit next to each other but we wouldn't risk that with our 2 kids. You're right you can totally get some real bargains getting a late deal but when staying onsite booking early is the only way to do it. Everyons wants different things from their hols so it all depends on what your top priorities are as to when you book and where you stay. Hope you have a fabby hol x

[missdopey]

We travel in school holidays so have less flexibility in that sense and on top of that we use our DVC points so we get booked as soon as possible to get a good flight price and guarantee availability at our reaort. We booked our flights last september for this August for £320 each, I doubt they will get any cheaper than that.

[lardypops]

Some things are cheaper booking well in advance like car hire, airport parking and hotels. I enjoy the planning side and would hate to do that close to a departure date. Before the kids came along we would book a few months before but never had a specific hotel in mind or any particular dining plans. If I hadn't have booked OKW when it was released last year I wouldn't have got it although we only booked our flights earlier this year and still got a good price at £400 each.

Unfortunately particularly if you're tied to school hols you don't have much choice in booking early especially if staying onsite and taking advantage of free dining

[Noodle500]

So I can get the time off work in the Summer school holidays. I also love the planning as I DIY leaving some hotels nearer the time.

[Andybear]

Originally Posted by razorsharp192

We're staying offsite this year, but every other year we've stayed onsite and the holidays have always been cheaper booking closer to the time. Appreciate the free dining logic, but is there really a saving given that you're paying more for the holiday than you would by leaving it until closer to the time? We stayed at ASMu last year for £800 each, booked 3 months in advance, booking the same holiday 12 months in advance would've cost well over £1000 each, the difference in cost was more than we paid in food costs so even with free dining it wouldn't have been cheaper overall.

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You clearly only care about going as cheaply as possible and don't care where you stay or what you eat as long as it's cheap. However cost isn't everything to a lot of us. A lot of us go for the resort and food experience, not just going to the parks. To get a specific room type in a specific resort often means booking far in advance. EG, I'm going on a solo visit in September and want to stay in a standard room in Port Orleans French Quarter on the free dining deal. To do this I had to book far in advance as the resort is small and popular and in particular the standard rooms go very quickly.

[Procrastinator]

The difficulty for us is school holidays. There are realistically only about 5, maybe 6 weeks when we can get a 2 week holiday. And those weeks are at peak times. So we are limited on choice. The dibb shows that if you plan well and know what is a good price, you might find bargains at any point, sometimes a long while before departure. If you know good direct flight prices are £400 out of hols and £600 in the hols, then it doesnt matter when they come up.

We booked our hol sept/oct time last year. The exact same holiday is currently £1400 more. Car hire was £450 more when i checked a couple weeks ago. And i have not yet seen any other bargains (at the right time) that make me wish i had taken them instead.

We have ADR's and BBB booked from 180 days.

So i cant see how we could have got this holiday for any less. I'm 99% sure it would have actually cost more if we waited. Though part of the reason i look on here so much is to try and find ways to do it better or for less next time!

But, if we were going as a couple and were booking outside school hols i'm pretty sure we would have done it more like you. We would have waited till closer, been flexible and taken a bargain. But when yoy are limited and dont have that flexibility that sort of plan doesnt often work that well!