Air travel is an exciting mode of transportation as it affords customers or passengers comfort, luxury, and safety, as well as being the fastest means of transportation to get them to their destination, especially over long distances. It is without equivocation that airlines have often wondered how to secure passengers to patronize their brand and services. So, many air travel passengers are often on the lookout for the best prices so they can secure a ticket.
Prices of tickets differ according to airlines, and some are unusually high for the average income earner who seeks ways to secure his pocket from being torn by prices beyond his reach. It is now established that the prices of flight tickets can be determined by what would be termed “peak season”—the time when passengers are known to be in high demand to travel, as well as the period where travel demand can be abysmally low, as on off-peak days. For example, traveling during the summer would be naturally more expensive than traveling during the winter. Airlines, therefore, have observed and made notes of these changes and have learned how to adjust the prices of their tickets accordingly to secure customers’ attention and patronage.
Both international and domestic airlines do have differing flight rates, so it is best to know ahead of time which of the flights, either international or domestic, you would be opting for. Quite some factors determine the flight rates: distance, number of available flights to a destination, airline, time, size of the airplane, et cetera. So, these factors must be weighed when trying to ascertain the best time to book a flight. More so, airfare prices are not static but constantly changing.
In a gist, while different speculations have been made on the best time and day to book a flight, the truth remains that the best day to book flights is whenever a cheap flight is found. Cheap flights can appear at any time and are not time or day-specific.
According to Expedia, the cheapest day of the week to book flights is Sunday. However, that fact has been dismissed as untrue. It is believed that there are no best or cheapest days to get the cheapest flights, rather sales and flight rates are determined at random. It is believed that the idea that a particular day serves as the best day to get the cheapest flight ticket is a myth.
Going by statistical records, plane tickets bought on Sundays are considered to be up to 36% cheaper. However, from analyzed data collected by Harper—a travel booking app—Tuesdays and Wednesdays are considered to be the cheapest days to fly locally. While Wednesdays and Thursdays are considered to be the cheapest for international travel.
Finding cheap flights
For constant travelers who are always on the lookout for affordable flight rates, the following tips will serve as a guide in helping to make decisions on when to find cheap flights on any day of the week:
Book flights one to three months in advance. Set a budget alert. Rebook your flight if a cheaper flight is found. Be flexible with your destination, airport, and dates. Multiple airports create room for more options. Mix the flights up: Using different airlines to fly to and fro a destination can be a way to save money.
When to book domestic flights
It is generally believed that for local travel, one should book domestic flight itineraries between one and four months in advance of the travel dates. According to Phil Dengler, the founder of TheVacationer.com, “cheap flight prices are available 24/7, so you do not limit yourself to a particular day and time.”
This shows that domestic flights do not have a specific day on which flight rates are meant to be low for air travelers to patronize a specific airline. From the UK, the cheapest day to book a flight is fixed to be on a Sunday, while the cheapest day to fly is usually a Friday.
According to Cheapair.com, the average time of the cheapest day to buy a plane ticket for a domestic trip is 64 days before the departure date.
When to book international flights
International travel requires more planning, and it is essential to put that into perspective. International travel will afford more opportunities to monitor the average flight prices on one’s route, and that way, one can determine a reasonable price and an expensive one.
Google Flights is considered to be a helpful tool in its price chart, which hints at a prospective passenger’s ability to know if a given itinerary is lower or higher than the average. In 2022, according to Cheapair.com, the average time of the week to fly during the week is Wednesday.
Getting a perfect deal on the cheapest day to book a flight will mean that one needs an understanding of the factors that affect airfare pricing. Airlines are known for releasing seats at different times and days during each year, and that means one may be quite lucky to get a day on which flight rates are low, irrespective of whether it is a domestic or international airline. So, there is no precise time of day at which the cheapest flight ticket can be purchased, and customers are encouraged to consider this in their planning.
