When Moira first announced the Reunion 2026 planning was under way, gratefully she agreed to my request that we will set a date that allows me to use my 330-day purchase regime. Yes, she said, but only if I wrote you all a memo letting you know why I do this way in advance purchase. So here it is-
This memo is for il Gruppo’s who have not done a lot of international air travel post pandemic. Post pandemic changes to airline travel include more deviousness in the ticketing process and fare structure (more on that later). Plus, these planes have tight seating rows and are usually packed full with every seat taken. Hopefully our November date and an upcoming recession will help us.
For medical reasons, I have to get more legroom seats on these long flights to avoid Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) which causes blood clots from sitting too long with the knees locked into one position. So, I was lucky to find this advice on how to buy these desired upgraded seats at the best price. Most importantly for you budget travelers, this advice helps make sure you can buy the much-coveted Exit Row seat, which come with extra legroom while flying in “Main Cabin”.
Airlines have embraced a new seating class called “Premium Economy” (PE) or some such name, a bit nicer than” Main Cabin Extra”. It Is basically a wider seat with more legroom, its essentially like what First/Business Class used to be- a big wide seat, comfortable reclining foot and leg rests, and upgraded food and drink. What I love about PE it is about ½ to 1/3 the price of the current Business Class seats which are now individual pods with lie flat beds and huge price tags.
Almost all major airlines release their seats for purchase 330 days (11 months) in advance of the flight (this advice doesn’t apply to super budget airlines). If you log onto an airline’s reservation page, you can see that future dates are grayed out and otherwise not yet available for purchase. But on the 330 day out from flight day you can log in to the airline site and pick whatever seat in the airplane you want. But beware, a few other people do this also and those Exit Row seats will sell out first, often within just a few days. The website SEATGURU has exact seating plans and seat reviews to help make your seat selection.
Airlines don’t have fixed fare rules anymore, they use algorithm’s and artificial intelligence to gain insight into what are high demand flights and they have an everchanging price based on what the market will bear. So, on the 330 day out, they haven’t got enough data yet, they set a price and begin selling. On 9 out of 10 international flights I have taken in the past 4 years, that 330 day price always is the cheapest the fare will be for premium seats. Once on a United booking a week later the fare down went down $175, I called United that day and got a credit for the difference. As it might be now clear, I don’t use a travel agent, I only use the chosen airlines website, no expedia etc.
Now for the complicated part, if you are staying 10 days in Europe and then flying home, you first buy the outbound flight, then you have to wait 10 days to get to the 330 day for the flight home. But if you wait 10 days so you can buy a round trip ticket, that coveted exit row seat on the first flight has been purchased. My solution is to buy two one-way tickets, I have found the price will not be much different, not worth the risk of not getting my bigger seat. And since I’m buying two one-way tickets, I take the big leap and use different airports just for the fun of it. Last fall I flew into Boston on American and 10 days later flew home from Montreal on Delta. June 2024, I flew into Venice on Delta and 15 days later flew home from Athens on United. You get the idea, take advantage of the situation and utilize the cheapest fares from various cities. For the reunion, I don’t know exact plans yet, but I will do something like fly into Firenze and return home from Venice after a brief auto tour of the Po river valley. (I really like the Venice airport and it has plenty of nonstops to America)
Our Reunion dates in Firenze November 10 thru Nov 13, so what is the 330 day for that schedule? The airline flight calendar is the best source of this date as the unavailable days are still blacked out. Make a plan- find several airlines that fly to the cities of your choice, then keep checking their website to get an idea of what the price may be when you log in on the 330 day.
December 1, 2025- research what airlines you want to fly on
December 7, 2025- start monitoring the chosen airlines website for the travel dates you are interested in.
On or about December 12, 2025 if you found the seats and fares you want, buy it.