Best day of week and time of day to book flights

[Anne's Family]

I'm flying American Jan 5-10
Best price was $211 yesterday, $187 today (Tuesday evening)
Now, is there a specific day of the week and/or time of day when fares are historically cheaper? I get this feeling if I don't book this $187, I might not find any better before Jan 5.

 

[sbakersub]

You might search this thread for a similar question, since I know it's been asked before but I can't guarantee I remember the responses -- I'm thinking usually mid week and early Saturdays??? Since you're within 90 days of your trip, I'd try kayak.com -- when you do a search it also gives you a chart that shows the rise and fall of prices over the last 90 days for that set of airports, so you can see if what you're looking at is a good fare. Also, if you plug in your dates at farecast.com, they'll do a prediction about whether you should buy now or wait, based on price history. Good luck

 

[ntsammy5]

Now, is there a specific day of the week and/or time of day when fares are historically cheaper? .

Quick answer: No.

 

[lilsweetpea]

Yes. Flights deals typically get released Tuesday or Wednesday.

I am going around the same time you are and trying to wait for a DING on Southwest. The current discounts are only for up to Dec 18. So I am trying to be patient.

Airtran is also offering some good deals. The deals usually vary by day of travel (like Tuesday Thursday or Saturday).

 

[MrMarv]

Many of Southwest's best fares are available for those who are able to fly on Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday; most of their promotional fares are as well.

 

[Anne's Family]

Turns out, the fare went down another $25 tonight (Wednesday) so I put a hold on it. Looks like I'll be booking that puppy tomorrow!

 

[mommyrom]

It may have just been luck, but I had been contemplating booking a quick trip in early Feb. and was planning to book with Southwest (PVD-MCO). Well, I checked fares yesterday and found the trip home fares went down about $25 each, so, I booked the flights and am happy to report about a $175 savings overall as compared to the prices I found on Tuesday!

Now, all I need is DING!!!!!!

 

[angwill]

Just read a message on fare compare website that American raised their rates $20 across the board and the other airlines are expected to follow so if you found low airfare you might want to buy it now.

 

[MrMarv]

That will almost certainly apply only in certain markets, and not systemwide.

If Southwest doesn't match it, chances are very good that nobody else will either.

 

[Anne's Family]

Bought the ticket at $162. It went down and I grabbed it. I'm goin' solo!

 

[CarolA]

Actually the "flight deal" myth is quickly becoming just that.

The day of the week deals occured years ago when fares were loaded once a week by the airlines. Now, fares change daily/weekly/probably hourly thanks to sophisticated computer models. So check often, sign up for a fare watcher and keep your fingers crossed.

That said it's often cheaper to FLY on Tues/Wed. Those cheapo fares tend to sell out last.

 

[lustergirl]

I would say mid-week travel is probably more cheaper than the weekends, especially with Southwest. I booked thursday to wednesday for 308.80 roundtrip to Orlando nonstop out of buffalo. But now I am looking at the same flights and they have went way up- 180 dollars one way- ouch!!

 

[lilsweetpea]

Actually the "flight deal" myth is quickly becoming just that.

The day of the week deals occured years ago when fares were loaded once a week by the airlines. Now, fares change daily/weekly/probably hourly thanks to sophisticated computer models. So check often, sign up for a fare watcher and keep your fingers crossed.

That said it's often cheaper to FLY on Tues/Wed. Those cheapo fares tend to sell out last.

Actually, I've been watching my flights for about 3 months now, and consistently deals come out on Tuesday and Wednesday every week.

 

[MrMarv]

Corporate America has been hooked on 'yield management' for well over a decade; airfares can and do change several times a day.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Yeah - what CarolA and MrMarv said.

I needed a flight to Las Vegas. I strongly prefer to fly JetBlue, although I was tempted to try AirTran or Continental, because Kayak was showing some flights at fifteen dollars lower than the other airlines. But I waited. Late last month, for maybe one day, maybe just a few hours, JetBlue had a couple of flights even cheaper than the two airlines above - so I grabbed it. $112 to LAS; later that day, it was back up to $139. I don't recall if it was early in the morning (i.e. just before I went to work) or late at night, but it was definitely a weeknight, two digit date starting with a 2.

 

[disnut1149]

Hi
Sometimes the fares go down near or after midnight. This past August, I went online and got Air Tran for $99.00 going down from Philly and $27.00 coming back from Orlando. It was about 11:45pm. The next morning the fares were back up to $104.00. I think you just have to keep checking.