This trip is not until July 2010, but what can I say I
am a planner so I have a question.

We are planning to go on a trip to Cancun July 2010. There will be a total of 5 of us and we plan on renting a home. I need to know when would be the best
time to purchase airfare from Los Angeles to Cancun.

Thanks

This is definitely not to early to start planning. There are 2 "best times" for buying airline tickets in general. First is as far in advance as possible. Most airlines release flight schedules and seating 9 months to a year out in front of a date of departure. They make pricing competitive (lower) to reward those folks that are willing to let them hold on to their money for a longer period of time and to help them gauge the amount of demand for a particular travel route. Within a few weeks of releasing seats they usually ratchet the seats up to the price where they historically expect prices to be acceptable to the public.

As the flight date approaches, prices begin to gyrate wildly, both up and down, _base_d on demand, the economy, the amount of competitors for a particular route, etc.. This is the second possible "best time" to buy, but in this situation you have taken a real gamble - your particular flight may be going up instead of down.

So it matters if you want to gamble or want to stay in budget. Since we're talking 8 months from now, you might currently be seeing the best pricing now for July 2010. With travel in summer to a very touristy destination, as opposed to you planning a July 2010 visit to Estonia, it's unlikely that pricing will ever be a bargain for your tickets. Anytime after January 2010 the prices will definitely be climbing for a while due to people coming out of the holidays and thinking about summer.

Since I can only give you general wisdom, you may wish to check with a local travel agency that specializes in Cancun. They will know more about the historical pricing on tickets from your city.