Ready, Set, Book: Low-Cost Airlines Extend Booking Windows to 2019

July 19, 2018

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3 min read

Ready, Set, Book: Low-Cost Airlines Extend Booking Windows to 2019

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One of the quirks of the low-cost and ultra low-cost carriers is that their booking windows don't extend as far into the future as the traditional major air carriers. For families looking to plan well in advance for school breaks or other major trips, this presents a real challenge. While you can book a paid or award flight on an airline such as United or American consistently about 11 months in advance, your booking window on an airline like Frontier may be as short as just five months. This can leave you crossing your fingers they will have the flights you want at the prices you can afford as the other airlines will already be six months into selling their seats by the point the low-cost carriers have fully released their schedules.

We are currently in the middle of summer, but many families are already well into planning their winter break 2018 - 2019 adventures. I'm actually unusually behind of my normal planning schedule for this winter, in part because I've been waiting to see what Frontier Airlines will offer for holiday flights from Houston to Denver for a potential ski trip. Thankfully, the wait is over, and Frontier Airlines joins the list of low-cost carriers to release their early 2019 booking schedules.

The Frontier Airlines booking window now extends to February 13, 2019 for Discount Den members and for those making a mileage redemption. Anyone can view their early 2019 flight times and prices, but only those with a Discount Den membership can purchase a paid flight for a few more weeks.

While we are looking at early 2019, Spirit Airlines released their early 2019 booking capabilities last month for flights until February 13, 2019.

Spirit Airlines: small seats, small prices, small booking window

This week, JetBlue also extended their schedule through April 30, 2019, which means that 2019 spring break flights are up for grabs!

Southwest Airlines flights are currently bookable through March 6, 2019, and on August 16, 2018, they are scheduled to extend their booking window through April 7, 2019.