I arrived in Switzerland in September intending to stay for a year but planning to go back to the U.S. for Christmas. What is the best way to book flights far in advance?

I booked from Washington-Zurich in September and Zurich-Washington in December together on Travelocity. Then I went to book my return to Zurich in January 2009, but ran into a problem because I did not want to return to Washington until October 2009, but no travel sites or airlines seemed to have data available for flights that far in advance. I ended up booking for January to August (on United) and I guess I will end up paying $200 or so to change the date of my return flight. I know it's too late now, but is there any way to avoid this?

Not sure if I have ever booked so much in advance [] but try
http://www.kayak.com

I searched for a one way ticket from Zurich and got one with no probs

A quick check on www.opodo.co.uk and www.ebookers.ch and it seems like you can book January to October for Washington-Zürich.

It was ages ago I booked a trip with a return ticket so far ahead in time - and it was a long time ago I used a regular travel agency. But if I remember right one used to be able to book a return ticket very far ahead in time, but one had to confirm the reservation again some time before the return departure since flights can be cancelled or changed in time. It could be worth going into a regular travel agency to check out the possibilities. So that you know what to check for when booking online.

Good Luck!

Normally airlines only offer flights for 300 days before hand. One option is looking into an open-end ticket. My friends who have studied abroad did this, because they were not sure at the time if they would want to travel around the US a little before coming back to Europe. You can maybe call around a little for those options.

As far as one way tickets are concerned, I would suggest playing around with the search websites a little (expedia, ebookers, travelocity, etc). We have found that buying a round trip ticket in the intention of only taking the first flight and sacrificing the second trip can actually cost half the price of a regular one way ticket.