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Flying is a great way to crisscross the country quickly, economically and has truly shrunk the world. According to A4A (Airlines for America), the average cost of an airline ticket (adjusted for inflation) has dropped by over 25% since 1979, but there are even more ways to save. Here are some tips to help save when buying airline tickets.
Best time to purchase plane tickets
Many travelers and experts believe that Tuesday is the best day to buy cheap airline tickets. This is because airlines often adjust prices on Monday evenings based on weekend sales. By Tuesday, other airlines are rushing to match those deals. Travelers are endlessly seeking ways to crack the code of erratic airline pricing in search of the cheapest fare. Unfortunately for travelers, there's no real shortcut to finding cheap airfare. As with any purchase, you need to shop around to get the best deal and when you find it, buy it. So, with that in mind, we have compiled a list of the best general and seasonal rules to get the best deals on your airfare.
Low-fare alerts
To guarantee that you get the best deals, most booking sites or travel agents, suggest booking tickets at least three months in advance. If you have a specific airport, or destination in mind, sign up for email low-fare alerts, make sure you include those specifics when you sign up. If you don’t have a specific destination in mind, sign up for cheapest tickets alerts from your particular departure and arrival airport.
Buy Early
We recommend that you start checking fares as soon as you know you’ll be flying. When you find ticket prices you like, be ready to book the tickets since that price may not be around for very long. Airline ticket prices typically go up in the weeks before your scheduled trip, so if you're planning ahead, try to book before this deadline. And if you're traveling internationally, you'll want to book even earlier, from three to six months in advance for the best deals. If your travel plans are not firm, it may be better to buy a refundable ticket early versus a non-refundable ticket at the last minute.
Be Flexible
Many online booking sites will ask you if you are willing to fly to an alternate airport or travel on another day, and the answer should be yes, considering more than one stop trips can also be less expensive. For example, New York, Boston, Chicago, and Houston have several airports nearby and one may be less expensive than another. You should also be flexible with different travel dates, moving your itinerary around by a week or even a few days can make a significant difference in ticket prices.
Avoid popular flying days
The day of the week you fly on can make a big difference in your airfare. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are generally the least expensive days for domestic flights and Friday and Sunday are the most expensive. If you’re willing to be flexible, check a bunch of alternate dates around the same time period because you never know when there might be one combination of dates that has a fare a lot lower than the dates around it. You'll usually find the lowest fares for travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.
Consider flying very early or very late
Most people don’t want to fly at the crack of dawn or past their bedtime. Because of this, early and late flights are typically far cheaper than flights during normal business hours.
Join frequent flyers
Why pay a fare at all when you can use your frequent flyer miles? Although redeeming frequent flyer miles has become more complicated in recent years, it's still a good option to consider, particularly if you're booking early or travel often. Airlines typically designate a limited number of seats on each flight for use for frequent flyer miles and these seats can go quickly.
It’s a good idea to become an elite member of the airline's frequent-flyer program or use a credit card that's tied to the airline to get exclusive offers for flights. Baggage fees are also often waived for cardholders. Likewise, if you're using a credit card that offers rewards, check to see if those rewards can be redeemed for miles or travel gift cards.
Be mindful of holidays
The most important factor that influences the price of a particular flight is how full that flight is, it makes sense that travel during Spring Break, Thanksgiving, or Christmas time would be more expensive than normal.
Some destinations, especially international ones, are very seasonal in nature so research the peak seasons for the places you’re interested in visiting. If you’re going to Europe, for example, you can find some amazing deals during the February and March low season, but if you want to go during the summer, you’ll pay up to double the price.
Essentially, there are plenty of tips and tricks that may help you get the best deal on travel, do your research, be flexible with your travel plans, and if you do need to travel to popular places at popular times, you usually want to book earlier than you otherwise would since discount seats are likely to sell out quickly.