Have you flown laterly?

I think it depends on the day/time and time of year you travel.

I was told:
Leaving in the morning typically is less busy
Wednesdays are typically less busy...
Obviously the peak time to travel is during the holidays...

Last month: Manchester-NYC on a Sunday morning- fairly full.  NYC-Manchester on a Saturday evening- surprisingly empty (we had room to stretch out!)

DH and I flew to visit the fam a couple of weeks ago and our flights to and from (Orlando - Manchester, Manchester - Orlando) were both totally full. Though I do believe it was around the time of half-term (lots of kiddies on the flights!).

I am flying from Heathrow to Newark the day before Thanksgiving, I am not expecting to have much elbow room..

I just flew from Boston to San Diego on Thursday and last night. I had a direct flight to San Diego, but a connection in NYC on the way home. All 3 flights were packed.

We flew from London to Barcelona and back recently, and both flights were pretty full.

As for prices, we'd been watching the price of London to Austin, Texas flights recently for a Christmas trip.  They were hovering around £450 with a change in Detroit or Minneapolis and £525 with a change in Houston (we were trying to avoid changing in a cold weather city).  Then around the 20th of October the flights changing in Houston dropped to £389, so we bought them quick.   

Carl