Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Best Time to Buy Airline Tickets

Is there really a "best time" to buy things? I have read many articles over the years about this, and I will share my findings with you and let you decide!

Airline Tickets: For non domestic travel, never buy tickets more than 90 days away from the departure date. Watch the 21-day mark as that's when carriers will file their lowest fares as a 21-day advance purchase. The next window is at 14 days, which you don't really want to do unless you feel lucky or have flexible travel dates. Good ticket pricing depends on the competition, travel destinations and the supply of seats vs the demand. Airlines file updates to their fares three times a day: 10am, 12:30 pm and 8pm weekdays, with one filing, at 5pm on Saturday and Sunday. All these times are EST. Traditionally the lowest fares filed are on Tuesday, Wednesday and sometimes Saturdays. In other words - hit or miss!

If I know that I am travelling, I place a price alert on Kayak or Yapta and let the websites email me with current pricing. I am also on the email list with American Airlines, Jet Blue, Delta,  and Virgin Airlines to receive weekly price alerts and specials. Not that I travel that much, it's just that I would love to travel  more and if a really smoking deal came along I would grab it!

Ta Ta for now...