best time to buy airline tickets
Best Time to Buy Airline Tickets
Need to travel by air, but the dizzy heights of the ticket prices making you sweat? Here are some simple ways to make sure you get a great deal each time you fly.
21 till I fly!
Travel gurus believe that you can get the best deal on your flight if you book 21 days before the day of departure.
Air travel has become more of a necessity for most of us rather than a luxury. It helps to save on a lot of time, and arguably, is not as stressful as some other ways to travel. What can be quite a heartache though, is the feeling of being ripped off at times by the airlines, or the travel website. But hope still survives!
There is no mojo that can help you get the cheapest deals (although it would be fun to see someone dancing to the tunes of I believe I can fly, trying to appease the Airline Gods!). What would make for a delightful flight (without losing a hand and a leg to buy the tickets!) is planning ahead, and considering a few very simple things.
In this article, we give you some pointers that should help you buy tickets at the cheapest rate possible.
Best Day to Buy![]()
Tuesday
Bad Day to Buy![]()
Weekends
Best Day to Fly![]()
Wednesday
Bad Day to Fly![]()
Friday
Not-so-popular Destination
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Not well-Connected
- If possible, fly to the nearest place to the one that you want to travel to, and then go in for some other mode of transport (road/water).
- Look for a connecting flight, wherein you travel to the nearest major airport with a major airline, and opt for a smaller airline to fly you to your destination.
- Buy the tickets about 3 months before the planned date of travel.
Popular Destination
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Off-season
Not-so-popular Destination
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Well-Connected
- Try and opt for the smaller carriers.
- Plan the trip just before, or immediately after the peak season.
- Plan ahead and follow the rates from about 10 weeks from the planned trip.
- If the rates haven't changed by much till about the 6th week, and the seats seem to fill in fast, book your tickets. This is probably the safest time to buy the tickets 'cos the prices, if they fall from hereon, would usually go down by a small margin ($20 - $50), whereas the rise could be by a much larger margin ($100 - $250).
Popular Destination
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Peak Season
- Plan ahead and ideally book the tickets about 3 months in advance.
- Try and choose smaller carriers.
- Buy the tickets directly from the Carrier. You will be surprised at the rates that the tickets go for if you book the tickets well in advance (3 - 4 months).
- Opt to travel during the week, rather than on the weekend.
- Try your luck with a last-minute booking. Often, if there are just a handful of seats remaining a few hours before the flight, they sell for much lesser than the actual price. Remember though, that this is a huge gamble, and is not advised if you are going out with your family or have a planned trip.
- Look for package deals (flight + hotel) on travel websites. Some of the offers are absolute steals.
- Sign up for email notifications about the best deals from travel websites and carriers.
- Follow your airline or travel website on social networking sites. Airlines and travel websites often tend to offer limited time discounts on their social pages.
- Flight Search from Bing is a very effective tool to search for some of the best travel deals.
- Enroll for Customer Loyalty Programs (frequent-flyer programs). Some of the best deals are offered by the airline for their frequent flyers.
- Plan ahead, so that you have ample time to choose the flight and route that best suits you.