Which day of the week to fly?

[middlesista]

Hi - We are planning a trip to Disney World next January and would appreciate suggestions on which day of the weeks tends to have lower air fare?

Thanks!

 

[mikehn]

Wednesdays and early morning flights tend to be the cheapest

 

[Marionnette]

Hi - We are planning a trip to Disney World next January and would appreciate suggestions on which day of the weeks tends to have lower air fare?

Thanks!

I find that Tu-We-Th are the cheaper days when flying to/from Orlando. Early morning bargain tickets are among the last to sell out, especially those departing from Orlando. Who wants to spend money to pay for a room if you have to leave it at 3 AM to catch a 7 AM flight? The late-night bargain flights into MCO are also the last to sell out for the same reason. You don't want to pay top dollar for a Disney room and not get a full day's worth of park experience for it.

 

[jmartinez1895]

We fly SW and from Birmingham to Orlando ( two major airports) and have found for us to fly out on Wed and come home on Tue is the best for us. Think of it this way, most business travel is on Monday and most leisure travel is on Friday-Sunday. During the week is going to be your best bet at a good rate.

 

[Massillon Dad]

frugal travel guy . com alot of expert advice

 

[turkeymama]

We fly SW and from Birmingham to Orlando ( two major airports) and have found for us to fly out on Wed and come home on Tue is the best for us. Think of it this way, most business travel is on Monday and most leisure travel is on Friday-Sunday. During the week is going to be your best bet at a good rate.

We fly SW also out of Jackson and have found this to be true.

 

[middlesista]

Thanks everyone - we might be tied into a Saturday flight into Orlando from Boston - does the early morning time apply to Saturday? Coming home is where we might be able to work around.

Will also check out frugal travel guy . com

Thanks again all - no doubt I will be back with more questions.

Folks on this site are so helpful. We utilized this site last January to plan our trip and had a great time using hints and suggestions from everyone that was kind enough to share their knowledge.

There will be 4 adults and 2 children and my husband and I try to help with the expense for our daughter and her husband and their children - watching our 3 year old granddaughter last year for her first visit at Disney was such a joy - wonderful and lasting memories...

 

[wnissen]

I would say that you've gotten plenty of good rules of thumb. There is precious little business travel ( less than 25%, according to http://corporate.visitorlando.com/r...s/orlando-visitor-statistics/visitor-volumes/ ).

But really the answer is to search for flights with a search engine that allows flexible dates. http://Kayak.com will let you select an exact date for the departure, but a range of up to three days on either side. It will also search nearby airports, depending on how willing you are to drive to get a better price and/or connection.

 

[shoney]

I agree with the pp www.kayak.com is a great tool.

Also, check one way fares on different airlines. Last year it was much cheaper for us to fly down on Delta and back on Jet Blue.

 

[pigletto]

I agree with the pp www.kayak.com is a great tool.

Also, check one way fares on different airlines. Last year it was much cheaper for us to fly down on Delta and back on Jet Blue.

Agree. I use Kayak. We've also flown Jetblue down and Southwest back for the last 3 trips because it worked out to be the cheapest for us. We usually get a flight in late Thursday if we can and fly back on the first flight out on Monday morning. It stinks having to get up so early to come home, but the 7am flight not only is cheaper to start with, but usually sees a few price drops as the trip approaches.

Tues and Wednesdays would be the cheapest but we don't want to give up a weekend so we fly Thursday of one week and Monday of the week following to try to get 10 day trips.

 

[middlesista]

When would the cost of flights would be lowest? For example - we will be flying out in January of 2012 so do we start to check into prices when the airlines first post flights for January (or the prices highert then) vs make waiting for a few months later to start to search?

We booked our vacation yesterday!! Seems soooo long to wait but there is fun in the planning...

I did save Kayak to my favorites.

Thanks again -

 

[pigletto]

When would the cost of flights would be lowest? For example - we will be flying out in January of 2012 so do we start to check into prices when the airlines first post flights for January (or the prices highert then) vs make waiting for a few months later to start to search?

We booked our vacation yesterday!! Seems soooo long to wait but there is fun in the planning...

I did save Kayak to my favorites.

Thanks again -

Well January of 2012 will also require a time machine so it might be pricey

I am assuming you mean January 2014. Sign up for each individual carriers email updates and they should alert you when booking opens. Sometimes the prices are lowest when released. Other times you have to keep watching though generally prices dip on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for booking. Book as soon as you see a price you can live with.

 

[jmartinez1895]

SW usually list the flights about 6 months ahead of time and then about 4 months before you can get the best price. The closer you get to the date of travel the higher the price will be ( Duh) you don't really want to book the day they list the times unless it is a flight that is prone to sell out ( which is super rare). Like others have said, many airlines have fare trackers that you can sign up for.

 

[middlesista]

Well January of 2012 will also require a time machine so it might be pricey

I am assuming you mean January 2014. Sign up for each individual carriers email updates and they should alert you when booking opens. Sometimes the prices are lowest when released. Other times you have to keep watching though generally prices dip on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for booking. Book as soon as you see a price you can live with.

What was I thinking 2012 - I would be in Disney RIGHT NOW if it was 2012 - wistfull thinking on my part. A year younger and in Disney hmmm....

yup - 2014 is when we are planning on heading back.

 

[auger]

I have found that the best way to get the cheapest flights is to stay as flexible as possible.
Also, constantly monitor flight prices, because they change frequently.

I have found that low prices can be available on flights happening any day of the week. It simply depends on how the flights are or are not booking up.
If a Sat flight isn't booking up, the price will drop. If a Tues flight is 2/3 full, the price will go up.
There are trends, of course, like pps have mentioned, but that doesn't mean deals can't be had outside the trends.

I booked our April flight this week with SW. The lowest prices available were for flying out on a Sun and back on a Sat. I did book with points, but points are based on the dollars that a flight costs, so it's still relevant.
I think I booked on with Mon or Tues. When I checked prices today, the flights were all up by 3000 points per leg, per person. So by jumping on them earlier in the week when the fares were down, I saved 18000 points!

I know not everyone has the flexibility we are fortunate enough to have, but try to be as flexible as you can so that when low prices are available, you can jump on them. And remember, you can find cheap flights on any day of the week.

Editing to add:
Since you have a lot of time, I would start watching prices for flights from your home to Mco. Get a feel for what the price typically runs. That way, if prices drop, you'll knowif it's a good deal that you need to jump on. If you don't monitor prices, you won't recognize a good deal when you see it.

 

[middlesista]

I have found that the best way to get the cheapest flights is to stay as flexible as possible.
Also, constantly monitor flight prices, because they change frequently.

I have found that low prices can be available on flights happening any day of the week. It simply depends on how the flights are or are not booking up.
If a Sat flight isn't booking up, the price will drop. If a Tues flight is 2/3 full, the price will go up.
There are trends, of course, like pps have mentioned, but that doesn't mean deals can't be had outside the trends.

I booked our April flight this week with SW. The lowest prices available were for flying out on a Sun and back on a Sat. I did book with points, but points are based on the dollars that a flight costs, so it's still relevant.
I think I booked on with Mon or Tues. When I checked prices today, the flights were all up by 3000 points per leg, per person. So by jumping on them earlier in the week when the fares were down, I saved 18000 points!

I know not everyone has the flexibility we are fortunate enough to have, but try to be as flexible as you can so that when low prices are available, you can jump on them. And remember, you can find cheap flights on any day of the week.

Editing to add:
Since you have a lot of time, I would start watching prices for flights from your home to Mco. Get a feel for what the price typically runs. That way, if prices drop, you'll knowif it's a good deal that you need to jump on. If you don't monitor prices, you won't recognize a good deal when you see it.

Very helpful info. You are correct - I do have enough time to start monitoring trends for days of the week to book. I guess I thought it was more important the day of the week that you fly out but it sems the day of the week you book is also very relevant. Thanks again

 

[Trish.Glenn]

Very helpful info. You are correct - I do have enough time to start monitoring trends for days of the week to book. I guess I thought it was more important the day of the week that you fly out but it sems the day of the week you book is also very relevant. Thanks again

I live south of Boston (south shore) and I sometimes to better to fly from tf green or NH. Where are you in mass?