The Myths and Truth about When to Buy Airline Tickets for your Leisure/Vacation or Business if they aren’t part of a Package – Infographic!
Did you think that when to buy airline tickets is when you want to travel, any time any day? Well so did we years ago…and guess what it is true. Book your flight when you need to, yet…
My instinct always tells me that when we are planning our travels abroad its always best to know when to buy airline tickets for the best value and seats. Its all part of the process right! Like anybody else we do love a good deal or even a bargain…who doesn’t?
And by the way if you do love bargain and tips on travel you might like our last post on why travel matters where we share the pros and cons of travel and how it does affect your economy!
One of the biggest mistakes we have been making is booking our flights too early…despite being frequent flyers! We noticed a trend yrs ago yet inspite of that we felt like kicking ourselves on a recent trip to Florence. We learnt that a friend who flew on the same exact flight as we did paid 45% less than we did…what, blooming heck? So what did we do wrong?
Booked too early…
Yet hang on a minute, aren’t we supposed to buy early to get the best deals? Well, apparently airlines use complicated algorithms to determine demand for their seats. This basically means that the flight quote/price you find online or are given may not be the best/lowest deal! Apparently flight prices are based on demand for that flight based on historical averages. Many times when we didn’t click that “buy now” link, the fare was gone like fairy dust! What, it truly can be a frustrating process! Begging the question; when to buy airline tickets online?
If you book too early before your trip, you definitely might pay more than others. Fortunately we have the Rate-shrinker Technology as part of the benefits of being world travellers. For those without this benefit, as part of your quest on when to buy airline tickets cheap, remember to factor in baggage fees, extra leg room fees and food purchases before booking city hoppers and local cheap flights and even some international red eye flights these days! For some airlines credit card holders it may be possible to get a free checked bag and other perks.
And here is the deal, since we have been looking for a deal on airfare, you would think that common wisdom dictates that we book early and set flexible dates, right? We should be doing that…lol.
Well to help make us feel better and we know you too will; we have learnt that although being flexible is super cool, booking your tickets too much in advance could be costly. So we are sharing with you our research on when to buy airline tickets online for the best deals and save you some mullah…
So while we missed the October value sales for the Dominican we know without a shadow of a doubt we are gonna get some super value flights in January… This followed on after we got so frustrated as to when to buy airline tickets, with the price increasing every day…!
Then we landed on some good news; CBS News’ travel editor, Peter Greenberg, shared some of his super tips on when to buy airline tickets, to avoid expensive mistakes and save money. One of the things we have learnt about when to buy airline tickets is its advisable to book at lest 8 weeks prior to your journey. We used to think and actually thought that it was best to book your flights on a least Tuesday or Wednesday early morning.
It is advisable to book your flight at lest 8 weeks prior to your journey. If you can! #traveltips #supertuesday via @kkpauli Click To Tweet
You might like to try an air fare predictor. We use bing, which helps us determine whether prices are still too steep, and if they might drop! We advise against waiting too long though; flight prices usually rise 7-14 days before the departure date. If you’re flying in 6+ months time, why not wait for a flight sale.
We are blessed to be part of a platform where, once you’ve purchased your fare, you can track your flight using the Rateshrinker technology. Which automatically tracks and refunds us the difference if the flight price drops before the travel date. So we don’t have to keep checking our emails at all. Absolutely makes when to book airline flights a breeze and joy.
Don’t fret though, you could use a fare tracker like Yapta, which could also help you get a refund of the fare difference if the price of your ticket drops to below $150 an amount most major airlines will not pay if its less than that! Our technology will refund you any amount even if its $20. 🙂
Following our Dominican Republic confusion we researched some more and learnt that; now its best to book your flights on a Sunday night approx 1:00 am in the airline’s time zone, says the flights price fairy 🙂 …So we are still in with a chance for an April bargain!
Question is are the savings worth it, esp. the lost sleep and well being? You decide.
But then we are way ahead of ourselves here….
I hear you ask when to buy airline tickets for Christmas…The answer is you missed the fair value and cheaper tickets. Right now you are looking to pay thru the teeth, unless you are willing to wait till the last minute and don’t mind where you are going or time of arrival! For instance last-minute travelers to Africa should prepare to pay an average of £1500+ (courtesy of Traveltrolley) on December 17. It also only gets worse from there. According to CNN the most expensive days to travel around the holidays are the weekends after Christmas (Dec 26-27) and New Year’s Day (Jan 2-3).
Yet we now feel so motivated to get online and really find our flights to the Dominican like yesterday. Patience is the sauce though. For all future travels whether for pleasure or for your business we encourage you to check this out and you will too – enjoy! xx
Infographic based Latest Research on when to Buy Airline Tickets for the best Bargains!
If you wish to download & use this “When to buy airline tickets infograph please Link Back to our post thank you 🙂
Please note that the above information is based on airlines and economic research by Cheapair, who have done research on billions of flights and share up to date statistics; CNN, Airfare watchdog and Farecompare as well. Yet it is not set in stone.
We have actually found some fantastic (yet very rare) last minute flight sales before. For instance when we decided to hop off to Dublin for a weekend and got a Ryan Air Flight for £49 for both of us round trip of which the return was £1 each. We were stumped and quickly grabbed them. In such cases, booking two days before the flight was the best day to book. This occurrence is extremely rare, so please DO NOT wait till two days before travel as you might miss your event or time away completely! We at pkjulesworld Do Not ADVISE IT!
DO NOT wait till two days before travel as you might miss your event or time away completely! We at pkjulesworld Do Not ADVISE IT! Click To Tweet
The point is, for individual trips, when to buy airline tickets varies and really depends on the time of year i.e. month, season etc. the destination and number of days of travel.
We have learnt that from the time a flight opens for sale and fares do drop steadily until they get to a low price point between 28 -115 days before travel. Its essentially a 3 month advance window, that is the “prime booking window” for your flight.
For our First Time Fliers:
Please note that when to buy airline tickets can be a pain but this could hurt:
Most airlines now have all kinds of limitations and restrictions. So make sure you get it right first time why:
- If you want to make a change, it could cost you $100 to $200 plus any fare difference.
- Make sure your names are correct for you wont be able to correct the name on a reservation, you might have to buy a whole new ticket, A simple typo could be very expensive.
- DON’T MISS YOUR FLIGHT unless its the airline fault. You will have to buy a new ticket for the next available flight.
- Finally we advise you whether first time flier or not to check out these frequently asked questions compiled by columnist, author and consumer advocate Christopher Elliott, that will definitely get you more travel savvy and your next flight a pleasure to book. He also goes a long way in answering most of your questions not just when to buy airline tickets!
When To Buy airline Tickets – Its a Wrap:
And, finally, we really cannot end this post on “when to buy airline tickets” without sharing with you some awesome tools. There are myriads of Apps, you can create your own as well. So you will be able to simply tap your very own App and buy not just your flight tickets but also your hotel, cruises, car rentals or weekend villas all via one App.
We have the Booking.com App downloaded to our phones and we get notified of all Flights and Hotel bargains! Click Here to Create your Free account and get $20 cash back on your first booking and $15 every time someone books via your link as well.
Its an android, iOS and Tablet App that simply is amazing.
If you purchase with us you get a unique price guarantee, a kind of price protection as a bonus – Kerching (T &Cs apply.) So you can get travel credit back for referring others too! No limit per passenger. So you can worry less about when to buy airline tickets and buy with more confidence!
Our last word on when to buy airline tickets is: if you find an airfare you can afford and is within your budget, book it immediately and that’s it. See, you might indeed find a cheaper flight, but at what cost to your time? You could do that packing and planning your trip activities. 🙂
Be sure to TWEET THIS now, So much appreciated! 🙂
[clickToTweet tweet=”If you find an airfare you can afford and is within your budget, book it immediately #airtravel” quote=”If you find an airfare you can afford and is within your budget, book it immediately”]
Did you enjoy this post on when to buy airline tickets? Then you will definitely enjoy our earlier post on why travel maters for us all!
And we would really appreciate your insights on when to buy airline tickets too below. Be sure to also like, tweet, pin, and Share on Facebook too…
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Paul & Julie Syl
Skype: Julie.Kalungi1
Twitter: @KKPauli
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Email: julieatJuleskalpauli[dot]com
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Good info to have, for sure. I’ve found that flights to just across the country have increased in pricing, so I can definitely use this info!
Glad you got value Patricia 🙂
This is great inform to learn…There are couple of things I cherish more in my life…Thank you for sharing,
Hey Liyin,
Glad you got value and Cherish some of what we share! 🙂
Syl
So very interesting. Thanks for sharing these tips.
You are welcome Patrick!
While some exceptional tips on traveling and flights. I also have noticed that when we book too early in advance we can offer to pay more on resorts and flight packages. It’s finding that sweet spot between not booking too early nor too late.
Beautiful insights Jennifer.
Thanks for sharing with us and glad you agree 🙂
This is good information to know about purchasing airline tickets. Found you on Bloggers Pit Stop.
Hey Candy,
We love the Pit stop and we are glad you dropped by from over there! 🙂
I travel a lot, so thanks a lot for bringing this to my attention! There are few things I love more in my life than travel, I’ll tell you that much!
Hey Christopher,
Happy to serve and do share some of your hiatuses with us one of these days 🙂
So many good tips in this article. The tip about buying on Sunday is priceless…this is new information to me. I use an app for flight tracking called Hopper. It seems to do a pretty good job of predicting whether or not to buy.
We love The Hopper App Amanda, and a few other tricks up our sleeves. We hope this helps you some in your future travels 🙂
Good tips!! We usually plan our trips in advance, so we tend to book tickets early! Else i do a little research online for the prices!
Hello Suchi,
Glad you agree and have fun in your travels!
These are some great tips! I’m always looking for the best deal when I’m planning a trip. Thanks for sharing!
You are most welcome Samantha 😀
Thank you for sharing, this is very informative. I am planning a trip to NYC soon and this came just at the right time!
Glad to be of service Pamela, Have a Fab NY trip and Hope this comes in handy every time you are taking a flight! 🙂
Great Tips! We fly standby because my hubs works for the airlines but this is great to keep in mind for when friends and family travel along too! Thx!
Woot woot Lindsay,
Can I join ya family 😀 Yes do go ahead and share with family 😀
Syl
Those are helpful tips for anyone planning to travel any time soon. I also watch out for sales by following different airlines and sites that sells tickets. Sometimes, the earlier you buy the tickets, the cheaper they’ll be than to buy them last minute.
Trust me we got a ton of Airline Flight dump-fest this year, it was crazy. Some went sub $100 for flights. We love to plan ahead and sometimes we choose a destination based on flight lol! 🙂
Thanks for this post, I always book ahead of time to have a cheap plane tickets, but sometimes, price goes down when I buy the ticket. And the risk is changing the flight details on some unexpected situation.
Hey Laurence,
We suggest that once you make your bed, you stop looking because Guaranteed you will find it cheaper lol! Its Murphy’s Law 🙂
It’s so crazy/annoying how much the airlines change the prices for the same flights. I always want to book way ahead, but I’ll try to hold off until 8 weeks ahead after reading this post!
Hey Ann,
Do whatever works for you, we cannot stop airlines because they want to increase their bottom line as a business..but we get your angst! 🙂
This is by far the best blog, we have ever come across. You people are doing a great work. Good Luck……..
Sounds like a fan 🙂 Thanks for stopping by IndianEagle
I always thought it was meant to be cheaper to book in advance. I know some people that have got really last minute flights for a bargain but I don’t know if i would have the guts to leave it that late lol Thanks for the tips
Great Tips shared! I Tickets during holiday seasons are expensive. So I try to book it in an advance otherwise it gets more expensive.
Hey Ana,
Tickets are more and more expensive as governments use the carbon footprint excuse to increase taxes on airlines who pass them on to travelers as they also cut services…making air travel less than amazing for many first time travellers!
PKJW~
Great travel tips!!!
Thanks Emily!
PKJW~
Great tips! My hubby flies quite a bit. I have traveled on a commercial plane only once. I was not a big fan. I prefer to drive across the country.
Hey Heather,
The company has lots of local Trips or you can craft your own, Its your life and vacation so lots of members and app users have awesome Staycations and RoadTrips galore. For such value its truly a joy! Travel agents marvel at the value we get!
PKJW~
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great blog and I ave tagged it . I travel a lot and hadn’t heard of most this stuff.
Sometimes I travel on the spur of the moment especially as Asia is so close fo r us here in Aussie
Will come back to your post
Thanks Julie
Hi Di,
Glad to have opened your eyes to some new stuff, Hope this enhances your travel experiences too.:)
PKJW~
Incredible tips here Julie! Knowing the best times to buy airplane tickets is so helpful. Passing this along to my father who travels every winter. So wild because he always purchases way in advance, but according to this…may be too far in advance for the best deal. Thanks a million! You’re a gem! 🙂
Our absolute pleasure Felicia. We love it when we are able to help our World Travel Buffs 🙂
And Thanks for your support!
This is great. I had no idea that Sunday was the best day to buy airline tickets
Yup Steve,
Until Late last year Tuesday night was the best day of the week to get it done 🙂
PKJW~
I am going to bookmark this site and use the info when i make travel plans next.
Thanks for sharing !
Glad you found value Priya 🙂
PKJW~
This is a great post you shared here Julie! I absolutely love the infographic you posted on your blog! Thanks!
Our pleasure Danny,
we are glad to serve and that you found the information interesting 🙂
PKJ~
I pinned this– I have a feeling this is going to be super helpful and I will be re reading this several times over! Thank you so much!
~ Via Bella Blog
http://viabella-thebeautifullife.blogspot.com/
We are super glad you have found the information useful Via Bella.
And we know it will save you a packet, the more to spend on your jaunts 🙂
PKJ~
Awesome article Julie! I was always wondering when’s the best time to purchase airline tickets. Just did some research on several locations, and yes! airfares are cheaper 8 weeks prior to the flight. Thanks for these tips Julie! Love the infographic that you put together!
Hi Jelena,
We are glad you agree and we wish you awesome adventures as you Jetset and enjoy more of this planet 🙂
Thanks for your time!
This is GOOD INFO! My mom loves to fly and looking for a great deal…thanks for these tips
Dr. Lisa
Our absolute pleasure Dr Lisa 🙂
We want to take a trip with my granddaughter before she turns two and can still fly free. That means, according to this, we need to get those tickets by end February! Thanks for that.
Dont stress about it Claudette. See the airlines want to know The age of the Child At date of Travel. So it doesnt matter how old they are when you book. So find what suits you and go for it. Enjoy.
Great tip. I always thought, the earlier the better. I was wrong.
Its all about knowing when you are travelling and booking early. for instance for Christmas, the earlier the better definitely 8 weeks is too close for comfort Kenny! In our experience anyways. We have bought xmas tickets in January of the yr of travel at amazing value doe to airlines selling off what didnt get sold the year before..their algorithms are as complicated as google’s 🙂
Its funny, But I have always wanted to understand this. i have also been on the same flight with someone who paid less because of their Timing. The Rateshrinker Technology sure sounds like a no brainer. Make life way easier! thank you Julie!
It makes you feel a lil aaarr doesnt it Tara! Coz you go the same way, seat on the same flight for the same hours,
getting the same service lol…
We love the Rateshrinker technology for sure does make life wasier so we dont have to worry too much
about when to buy airline tickets!
Thanks for your time.
Julie & Paul
Yikes, I hardly ever book that far in advance. I guess I’d better start making a point to do it!
Well as long as you get what you are looking for Liz and are happy with your price.
Thats all that matters in life isnt it!
Glad we have opened your eyes though to other possibilities.
Julie & Pauli
I’m going to go ahead and bookmark this since I love finding a good deal on flights. Fingers crossed I can save some money on my next trip.
Absolutely Saidah,
Its all about being well armed and then making a decision when you see what suits you like all things in life.
Hanging on For that Sweet deal always may not be the best option as we very clearly state in conclusion 🙂
Thanks for you time!
Julie & Pauli
This is super helpful. I’m always scouring the Internet for solid info on when to buy plane tix. Luckily, Southwest is my airline of choice and they let you change your flight if the price drops!
Hey Chrissy,
Glad to have served you today, is Southwest an International carrier?
We will sure check it out!
Julie & Pauli
Great information. We don’t fly much but I will pin this for when we do.
Glad we have been of service, may your flying days be many indeed Jessica 🙂
Julie & Paul