Yes it does. In Germany, everyone wants to get on a plane in August because that’s when school lets out (we have a whole lot of other holidays throughout the year). If we could fly out in the middle of July, it would be a savings of over $500 per ticket to go over the Atlantic Ocean. But the 6 weeks starting in August? Forget about it unless you buy a ticket before the first week in December.

Not as much as the fancy ones.

It’s not necessarily that the airlines are jacking the price, but that the tickets sell out faster. The less seats available on a flight, the more expensive the tickets are. That is why the prices were so much cheaper a month ago, there more more available. If you are talking about a flight furthur away, I wouldn’t think that seasonal prices would afferct that, it could also be that more tickets were sold in that time. A lot of airlines also have fare specials that you must buy at least 3 weeks in advance. Or the first time you looked there was a special going on, then that deal was over the next time you looked.

I think figuring out how airline pricing works is worse than taxes. General rules are buy as soon as possible and fly in the off season. Also flying certain days of the week is usually cheaper (tue, wed, thurs) And the more flexible you are the better price you can find.