Replying to Trip to Vancouver island

I'm hoping to take a trip to British Columbia in the fall to visit an old friend from college, and i was wondering what kind of tips newschoolers had for me, the trip isn't going to revolve around skiing but i am hoping to go to whistler for a day or two. I've never ordered my own plane tickets so i was wondering if there was an ideal time to do so? or if i should buy lift tickets before hand? i am from Pennsylvania and i know this is going to be an expensive trip the cheapest tickets i can find at the moment were about 630 round trip with united air, good? bad?