Article #2

Best Time To Book A Flight

Best Time To Book A Flight

Let's get one point sorted before I explain this issue any further.

The best time to book a flight is not the same as the cheapest days to fly. If you've done some searching on this topic you'll have noticed that too many people confuse these two things, but they're not the same at all.

Folks that are trying to find out the best day to book airline tickets are usually looking for the exact time of the day, or day of the week to actually BOOK the ticket online and pay for it with their credit card.

People looking for the cheapest days to fly are trying to find what day or time is best to actually book the ticket for.

Best Time To Book A Flight Online

Nowadays airlines release airfares for sale as long as a year or more before the actual flight.

There's usually two camps of people who think they know when to buy airline tickets, both of which are completely wrong!

Firstly, you get the people who'll tell you to book the flight as early as possible because the flights always are only going to go up. Wrong.

On the other hand you get the folks who'll tell you that getting last second flights or standby flights are cheaper because the airlines will be desperate to fill up any empty seats. Also wrong!
 

Over the long term, the best time to book flights is around 3 to 4 months before the date you wish to travel.

If you book your tickets any earlier than this you always end up paying the midtier level price for the seat. This won't be the best price. The airlines make good money of midtier sales so that's why they're mostly offered and sold at this price.

The reason to wait until 3-4 months out from the departure date is because this is when the airline will start actively managing the prices for this flight based on the current sales and projected sales based on the time of the flight.

If you wait too long and more seats get sold you'll probably end up paying more so it's best to get them around this time.

The only exception to this rule is for flights around peak times such as Christmas and Thanksgiving. For these fares it's generally best to get them as soon as possible.
 

Best Time To Book A Flight Tuesday

The best time to book a flight is just after midnight on a Tuesday or early on Wednesday morning.

There are two reasons for this. Firstly, it's known in the industry that airfare prices increase towards the end of the week. Secondly, it's also a little known fact that midnight Tuesday is when most airlines update their booking schedules with the best fares for the week so this is the most likely time to get the best price.
 

Best Time To Book A Flight - More Tips

For more tips, cheats and scams on how to get cheap flights be sure to check out our home page.

There are far more effective ways to find cheap flights. You can get some insanely cheap flights if you know a few insider tactics and cheats. Be sure to check it out.