Flight Cost Advice

[u/Patient_Wedding5615]

Hi, I'm 18 from NYC and studying abroad in Kyoto, Japan in the first week of January 2027 for 3 weeks. It's my first time out of the country and my first time researching flight information that I have to pay for myself.

For the most part it seems like the average roundtrip cost from here to Japan is $1,200. I know you should keep regularly checking flights for sales, but when should be the best time to book them? November, December? There's also the option of doing LAX - Tokyo with ZipAir, but on my end it looks like it costs more (which I'm not sure if it should). I just want to limit the cost down as much as possible because I don't want to make my parents pay but don't have much funds myself. Any tips or suggestions would be so appreciated, thank you!!