When to Buy Airline Tickets
In bars the world over, globetrotters frequently discuss when to buy airline tickets.
When is the best time and when are the prices at their lowest? Does this mythical hour even exist? Tuesday at 9 a.m. or Wednesday at 7 p.m. local time? Is it better to buy a ticket two months in advance, or is it better to wait until the last minute?
No one can guarantee what the best time is. Kayak – one of the better known online ticket sales agencies, recommends when you should buy (as per their estimates), and when you should follow price movements as if you were following the stock exchange. Some claim that the prices should be checked several times a day every day of the week, as much in advance of the flight as possible.
A study conducted by Expedia and Airlines Reporting Corporation
suggests there actually is the optimal time, but it’s none of the above. Their information is based on billions of sold tickets in the period from January 1 to October 24, 2016, resulting in the conclusion that the best day to buy airline tickets is Sunday, especially if you buy them more than 21 days prior to the flight.
Saturdays and Sundays are generally considered to be the best days to buy airline tickets and book a hotel. The study, which refers to transatlantic and American domestic flights, claims that you can save up to 30% this way. This study, however, does not include European LCCs. There, the situation is different, and the recommendation is to buy the tickets as early as possible because the number of seats at promotional prices is very limited, usually only up to 4 seats per flight.
It should also be taken into account that the majority of passengers on those flights are there for business reasons, and their tickets are mostly purchased by travel agencies working during regular business hours so that a significantly lower number of tickets is purchased at weekends.
The forecasts for 2017,
as we have already reported, are good for the passengers. The number of flights is constantly increasing, new aircraft are being commissioned, and the transport business is flourishing. This translates into more options for the passengers and lower prices. Some low budget companies are predicting they will be able to give away free tickets, to be funded by the destinations they fly to, of course, as someone still has to pay for all of that. If not the passengers, then the local tourist boards. The biggest price drops in 2017 are expected for Africa-bound flights.
The text has been partially taken from Condé Nast Traveler.
