Finding a great deal on an airline ticket takes some serious dedication. Wading through the complex inner workings of ticket pricing and trying to reconcile them to your travel dates is often a daunting, even nerve-racking experience. It would be helpful to figure out when airlines offer specials. While every airline is slightly different, there are a few tips you can follow to find those elusive airline specials for your next trip.
The Magic Window
- According to Sarah Keeling, director of public relations at Expedia, the best time to find flight deals is 18 to 28 days before your departure date. Jessica Casano-Antonellis, spokesperson for Kayak, cites company research that indicates that 21 days before departure seems to be the ideal time within the "magic window." Based on Kayak's research, domestic tickets purchased 21 days before departure typically cost up 8 percent less than those available during the six months leading up to departure. International tickets tend to fluctuate less, showing an average of 4 percent reductions in price 34 days before departure.
What Days You Should Fly
- Data from FareCompare and other major meta search engines shows that flight deals are most often found on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. These are the least popular days to travel and hence the days where most airlines tend to lower prices in order to fill seats. Flying on these days will also help you avoid what airlines refer to as "peak travel surcharges" that add a premium to tickets purchased for Sundays, Mondays and Fridays. Thursdays usually receive mid-range prices.
What Day You Should Buy
- Rick Seaney, FareCompare's CEO and an ABC News weekly columnist, points to Tuesday afternoon being the best time to find the best airline deals. Airlines typically release fare deals on Monday evenings. That means that competitors trying to price match will usually have their deals up by Tuesday afternoon. If you happen to spot a good deal on a Tuesday within the "magic window" time frame, odds are that is about as good as it is going to get.
The "Off-Season"
- In the United States, the "off-season," the time when the least number of people are traveling to particular destinations, is usually during the spring and fall. The best deals to domestic destinations, even to places like Hawaii, which still maintains great weather during those times, are found before June 21 and after August 22. Winter travel dates, outside of holidays such as Christmas and New Year's, are also off-season for some destinations, but peak season for others. For example, tickets to Hawaii in mid-December may be cheap, but travel to Aspen is expensive because of the start of ski season.
Summertime
- Not everyone is blessed with the ability to travel whenever they want to in order to take advantage of off-season deals. In fact, many families are forced to take vacations during the summers when school and work schedules are more likely to work well together. Airlines take advantage of this by charging premium prices for flights between June 22 and August 21. The only non-peak travel day during this period is July 4. The best summertime travel deals are for domestic flights of more than 2,500 miles on August 29 and mid-haul flights, around 1,250 miles, on September 3. European destinations depend on both the flight date and city. August 20 is the best summer date to travel to Frankfurt. Try August 23 for flights to London or August 26 if you plan to visit Amsterdam, Dublin, Paris or Rome.
