Best day to buy airline tix

[shoney]

When do you find is the best day to purchase airline tickets?

I was doing a little online research last night into a possible 5 night trip to Universal in June. The tix were 216 pp...NICE!

Well, when I got up today they were 287. UGh!

I have to use Delta because we have a $500 credit with them.

I did notice that they added 2 morning flights that weren't there yesterday.

I remember reading somewhere that there are certain days of the week that airlines sometimes lower prices. Any truth to that?

 

[patriciaofoz]

I am not certain if there's any truth to this but at work, we are advised to book our work flights 6 weeks out from the trip and supposedly Tuesday is the cheapest day to buy.

Good luck with flight hunting! I hope you get a great deal.

 

[cmwade77]

There is truth to the day of the week, but which day depends on the airline. Additionally, there are better times of the day (usually the earlier in the day, the better, usually starting at about 2-3 AM PST).

After purchasing your tickets, you can use Yapta.com to track if you can get a refund based on a price drop based on your airlines policy.

 

[ZoeBell]

I also read Saturday early morning is a good time to buy. It worked for me. I hesitated on buying tickets and watched as the price kept going up. Then one Saturday as I was getting up for work I checked and they were back down to my original price. I grabbed them.

Now I'm obsessed with checking to see if they go even lower. I can thank DIS for that helpful hint!

 

[sam_gordon]

I also read Saturday early morning is a good time to buy. It worked for me. I hesitated on buying tickets and watched as the price kept going up. Then one Saturday as I was getting up for work I checked and they were back down to my original price. I grabbed them.

Now I'm obsessed with checking to see if they go even lower. I can thank DIS for that helpful hint!

This is only a good hint if you're flying an airline that allows for free changes (SW & JB- JB is the other one, right?) Otherwise, you might just make yourself upset.

 

[ZoeBell]

AirTran also. Which is where I bought from.

But yeah I wouldn't check if I couldn't get a refund or at least a credit.

 

[sam_gordon]

This might be interesting. Just for the heck of it, I priced out flights at various times out from today from my home airport to MCO. I used Travelocity and did a Sat-Sat trip.

5 weeks: $372
6 weeks: $372
7 weeks: $372
3 months: $387
6 months: $407
10 months: $387

 

[ZoeBell]

I read an article which basically said the "discounted" travel sites are a joke and really don't give you a discount. Which I agree with. I use them for reference but book with individual airlines because the price is always the same.

But the article gave a tip of clearing your cookies and checking the sites with different browsers.

 

[Casemily]

The only time the "discount" travel sites are cheaper than the individual airlines is the now rare occasion when the cheapest option mixes multiple airlines and connections to get you to your destination. Example: Eugene to Seattle then Seattle to Portland on one carrier then Portland to Phoenix on another then Phoenix to Los Angeles on a third and Los Angeles to Dallas fort worth on a fourth.

It usually happens more during last minute holiday travel.

If you can, always check the airline website before you buy from the discount travel sites. The travel sites don't relay contact info to the airlines so if there are any last minute issues with your flight there's no way to contact you. Plus the seat request you put in at the travel site is just that, a request, there is no guarantee on pre reserved seats. You have to go to the airline website to confirm the seat request.

 

[sam_gordon]

I read an article which basically said the "discounted" travel sites are a joke and really don't give you a discount. Which I agree with. I use them for reference but book with individual airlines because the price is always the same.

But the article gave a tip of clearing your cookies and checking the sites with different browsers.

I used Travelocity because it will look at multiple airlines. I always book directly with an airline.

 

[CraftyMommy]

I tracked our flights for 7 weeks and kept all the times/dates/amount on an Excel spreadsheet. I noticed it was very random. A flight would be real cheap one hour, and the next hour it would jump up $50 higher. I would check it later the same day and it would be cheaper again. There seemed to be no pattern, so after 7 weeks of tracking, I waited for the price to go down to the cheapest price I had seen it so far and I booked. We were 9 weeks out from our trip. I have not seen the prices go back to that price since then. Each time I look at our flight it gets more and more expensive.

 

[EpcotQueen]

Cookies...I've heard that if you check frequently from the same computer the cookies that the airlines 'use' know you are searching for flights and adjust the price because they know you want/need to book. Don't know how true.

 

[shoney]

thanks for all the tips everyone!

I read an article online this morning that said to check at 3pm on Tuesday. Well, I cleared cookies and did the search. It went down a whopping $9! Big deal!

I do have lots of time. I never book this early, anyway. It's just that this would be a b-day trip for my son so my dates aren't very flexible!

 

[wdw&sonny]

I tracked our flights for 7 weeks and kept all the times/dates/amount on an Excel spreadsheet. I noticed it was very random. A flight would be real cheap one hour, and the next hour it would jump up $50 higher. I would check it later the same day and it would be cheaper again. There seemed to be no pattern, so after 7 weeks of tracking, I waited for the price to go down to the cheapest price I had seen it so far and I booked. We were 9 weeks out from our trip. I have not seen the prices go back to that price since then. Each time I look at our flight it gets more and more expensive.

Totally Agree.

I have read the articles, too. Yes, on average, Tuesdays at 3:00 PM is the cheapest time to buy. But, most importantly in that statement is that it is ON AVERAGE...that's an average taken for different times of year, different times from booking to travel, different departure cities, different destination cities, different airlines etc.

In general, prices are highest just days before a flight and cheapest a few months out. BUT, again, that logic does not always apply when you are booking tickets to Orlando for summer...it's kinda a popular destination in June.

I have tracked flights on spreadsheets for years. I have seen flights added and taken away, plane size increased and decreased, prices go up and down within the day. I am sure it's all supply and demand. But to me it's just mindboggling and frustrating.

In reality, the prices fluctuate inexplicably. As others have said, best you can do is periodically check and book when you are comfortable with a given price.