Fiji via Hong Kong; When to book flights for July 2013?

Following from my earlier post, I have now confirmed my holiday to Fiji in July 2013 and paid a deposit on the liveaboard diving boat. That means that my dates are more or less fixed and I have to go. For various reasons, I want to avoid the LA or Seoul route and want to go through Hong Kong.

As for airlines, Cathay Pacific is out because of their luggage policy and so it has to be either BA or Virgin up to Hong Kong connecting with Air Pacific to Nadi. But the July 2013 fares are still very high compared with those in April or May. I am hoping that the fares will drop but has anyone any idea when would be an ideal time to look at flight tariffs for July 2013?

Because of the summer school holidays, July and August are peak season for Fiji. Airfares are
based on load capacity, so the airlines have little incentive to discount fares at that time.
Another variable is jetfuel prices. Air Pacific does offer discounted fares from time to time- you
can check their website periodically. Another option is to sign up for an airfare alert with Kayak.com,
for example. Kayak will e-mail you an alert if the airfare has dropped. Good luck!

Thanks. But the agent I spoke to said that it might be worth waiting for a few weeks despite July being the holiday season. She also felt that Air Pacific were making some schedule changes and could not be relied upon this far before the travel dates.

As a result, I am reconsidering the Korean Air via Seoul. A helpful UK based ailine clerk at Korean Air told me that the best fares for July usually come around previous December-January. Also their charge for the extra bag from London to Fiji will be USD 100 to 130 (£ 65 to 85 approx) flat rate each way. Might be worth it if their airfare is competitive, which I believe they usually are. The only problem is that I will then have to leave Fiji a day earlier but I can live with that.

Hintermann, My understanding is that 6 months prior to flight time is probably the best time to
buy airline tickets in general. This strategy presumes there is no spike in oil prices of course.

A further fillip in favour of Korean Air is that there is a very similar Gatwick option now. Although there are only 3 flights a week to Seoul from Gatwick, the days match my requirements exactly. As things stand going from Gatwick is more expensive but worth watching and waiting.

If as Kenko and other say the best fares usually come around 6 months before the flight date, I am probably looking after X-mas. But I will regularly check the fares till then.

Just to update on this. I have now made a provisional booking with Korean Air via Heathrow on the days and flights that I want. The booking will be held for me till 3rd January and the present rate inclusinve of all taxes is £1208, not bad considering that it involves two 10-hour flights each way. I have decided to wait for a maximum of 2 more weeks and then go ahread & pay.