The prices of air travel continues to rise with increasing fuel costs, charges for “premium” seats, baggage fees and other erroneous charges by airlines. Passengers are searching for ways to save money any way they can, including purchasing tickets well in advance but also pinpointing the day of the week when prices are at the lowest. So, what’s the best day, time and way to get the cheapest flights? According to CBS travel editor Peter Greenberg (a great source of information by the way) it is:
- At 12:01 am Tuesday night/Wednesday morning in the time zone of the place where the airline you are booking on is based.
- Via telephone – Contrary to popular belief, call the airline’s reservation line and speak to an agent. The excess inventory (the un-purchased tickets) shows back up in the airlines’ reservation systems FIRST. Now that I think about it, it makes sense that the airlines would have information on their own inventory before any other third-party.
So that’s the nitty-gritty of when, where, and how to get the cheapest airfares. You can stop reading here if you take everything for face value. However, if you’re anything like me and can’t help but do your own extra bit of research, double-check your newly acquired information. How?
Here’s your homework:
Test Peter’s recommendation out. This week. If you have an upcoming trip (hopefully more than 2 weeks out), set your phone’s alarm clock for 11:58 pm Tuesday night. By the time, you get the cold out of your eye, dial the airline’s number and get an agent on the phone, it should be 12:01 am Wednesday morning. If you’re a little early, just stall them until your clock says 12:01 am and then get pricing for your preferred flight. At the same time, check for the same flight from your computer and compare notes. See what you get. Come back and let me know what you find. I’ll be doing the same.
I am so grateful for your site! We are starting to travel more as a family. I always wondered when was the best time to get better pricing on air travel. THANK YOU for sharing!
Hi Kelly, Glad you found us and we could be of help. Let us know what other ways we can help your family travel transitions. Happy travels!
Funny. I had heard that Tuesday was the best day to get the cheaper flights vs Sunday. I priced a trip on Sunday and waited until today 8:00 a.m. Tuesday to compare. My trip in in Sept 2012 and this is July 2012 2 months prior. The prices today were actually higher by about $40.00 then they were Sunday. I will try again later this afternoon
and then again at midnight like you suggest.
Yes, Tuesday has been often quoted as the prevailing day for cheaper flights. However, like you, I started pricing flights for a trip that I was taking a few months down the road and saw the prices fluctuate upwards on the day that the flying “experts” said was the cheapest day to fly. Bottom line: Do what you did and compare the prices far enough in advance so that you can figure out the cheapest day for your particular flight and destination.