booking airlines early Sat. or Sun

[dpayne1969]

Hello
i have been looking for an hour now for a thread i found a few days ago about someone that said if you book your flight early Sat. or Sun. morning you could save a lot of money.My question is does anyone remember which airline this was with??
thanks for your help in advance.
Dee

 

[WCMouse]

I am not exactly sure which one it was, but in regards to booking on Sat. or Sun., I have some conflicting information. In Conde Nast Traveler Magazine a few months ago they mentioned that Late Tuesday Early Wednesday (after Midnight Tuesday) was the best for deals as the Airlines often released the previous weeks cancellations at that time, thus often freeing up more seats and seats in all price categories. I personally am not sure about this but I will be looking around like you...

 

[pumpkinboy]

I thjought it was SWA, but it might have been Northworst.

 

[dpayne1969]

thanks for your help.I will try nwa in the morning!

 

[NotUrsula]

Do you mean the time you make the reservation, or the time of the flight?

It is true that FLIGHTS that leave early Sat or Sunday morning are often cheaper, but for the most part, you don't want to be making reservations on those days; weekends are the times when airlines float their fare-increase trial balloons.

 

[BigDave]

I remember the thread and it was Tuesday to Wednesday. I know that the poster said airfares can drop then and they certainly did. We were watching airfare to Denver on USAir and after reading that post I checked on Tuesday and again on Wednesday and it dropped from 550 to 350 from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning. We were able to book Wednesday am and by the time night came all the flights had gone back up.


BigDave

 

[safetymom]

Tuesday night or Wednesday morning is when you have the best chance of cheaper fares.

 

[DebbieB]

I lucked out today. I've been watching flights on USAir for May 2 to 8. The flights I wanted were $692 each! Ouch! When I checked the seating charts on American Express Travel there were a bunch of seats left so it didn't make sense. Checked today, $251!!!! Booked that so fast! I checked later in the day and it was back up to $692! I must have grabbed the 3 cheap seats they added!

 

[safetymom]

It pays to keep checking doesn't it. Congrats.

 

[dpayne1969]

ok thanks so i guess i will be checking back on Tuesday and again on Wednesday.thanks for all your help.I do appreciate you all!!

 

[DisneyDadJimbo]

In my research for airfare from PHL to MCO via Southwest, the cheeapest flights were available most days (when they are first published) but the Saturday low fares sold out early. Southwest has occasional "Internet Specials" which I saw come off and on and they were $10 cheaper each way as compared to their everyday low prices. If you fly Southwest and see an "Internet special" I would book it right away. In my case we waited and missed the Internet special and had to pay the extra $10 each way. When the Internet special reappeared I went back online and changed my flight and did get a credit for $80 that I could use against future flights.

 

[dpayne1969]

i will be watching very closely for sales.I will also do the evening watching on Tues.and Wed.thanks for all your help.I know i saw something about cheaper airfare on a certain day just did not know which day it was.LOL..

 

[ibidforit]

Is this the thread you were looking for? This was on the Budget Board. It says Sat/Sun rates go down for ATA. I usually fly ATA, but I don't know if this is true or not.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=523847&highlight=+Ata++saturday

Gretchen

 

[clkelley]

I got my cheap Delta flights on a Sunday afternoon. There were only 3 seats available on our preferred direct flight, so I booked my self on a different connecting flight for about $5 more.

The flights we got have been $50-100 more every other time I've checked, except for that day.

So there seems to be no rhyme or reason.

Carol

 

[safetymom]

Sometimes the airlines "float" different fares on the weekends. They want to see if other airlines will raise or lower their rates. So you have to watch all the time if you want the good deals.

 

[dpayne1969]

thanks have been on here 24/7 seems like.I still have a ways to go but everything else is already paid for except my plane tickets so i just want to get some cheap if i can.

 

[KBFinFan]

I booked our last vacation on a Wednesday morning at around 1:00 AM through Expedia.com on Song. Expedia charges a $25 booking fee, but their rates were cheaper than the Song's website. I ended up getting JFK to MCO direct for $801 (5 Adults including all taxes and fees). Pays to keep checking, and for me it pays to stay up into the wee hours of the morning!

Good Luck!