When is the Best Time to Buy Airline Tickets

Buying cheap plane tickets is everyone's dream. Consumers, companies, travel sites and even scientists have sought the perfect formula. While all have reached interesting conclusions, the conclusions are varied.

In general, it is said that a trip planned in advance represents a saving of more than 30%, compared to the purchase in high season; According to data from the Mexican Association of Travel Agencies (AMAV).

On the other hand, the taxes that the airlines (and passengers) must pay for the use of the airport, the turbosina and other services; In addition to the supply and demand of the destination are also very important factors in determining how much a flight costs.

Whatever your destination, here we tell you, according to experts, what are the best times to buy your plane tickets:

1) 6 weeks before your trip (or 42 days)

About 100 days before each flight, airlines launch bids to simulate demand, but as the date of departure arrives, prices return to normal.

Airline tickets bought six weeks before the travel date are at least 6% cheaper, according to a study by Airlines Reporting Corp .

2) 54 days before the trip, in the United States

After analyzing 4 million flight data over 320 days, the conclusion was that to find the cheapest plane ticket within the United States, you have to buy it 54 days before the trip.

If the date has already passed or you want to plan your vacation within that country with a lot of time in advance, purchase your tickets between 104 and 29 days before. In that span, tickets range from $ 10 to $ 10 as low as possible.

3) 90 days, for international flights

In general, it is best to buy your international flight 90 days before your trip. If you want a little more detail, it depends on the region you travel to:

Canada and United States - 47 days

South America and Central America - 96 days

The Caribbean - 144 days

Middle East - 213 days

South Pacific - 244 days

Mexico - 251 days

Europe - 276 days

Africa - 262 days

Asia - 318 days

4) 8 weeks before your flight ... and in the afternoon

A Jaen economist named Makoto Watanabe devised a formula according to which the best time to buy your flight is eight weeks before your trip and in the afternoon.

5) In low seasons

Another factor that "moves" the price of plane tickets is the seasons. It does not matter if you travel within your country or to other parts of the world, during the summer and during the Christmas season, or end of the year the trip will always cost you more.

In these cases, it is better to buy them with a lot of time in advance, because as the date approaches, there is more demand and the price will not go down.

6) When you take out your credit card

Many credit cards have cheap ticket promotions, two-for-one or totally free trips when you first take out your plastic, especially if it's a travel card.

If you are thinking of requesting one, look for one that has this offer or some agreement with the airline that you travel regularly.

7) Buy tickets in advance

There are people who think that buying airline tickets a couple of days before leaving, is cheaper, but it is somewhat uncertain in most cases. Companies know that if someone book a flight at such short notice, it may be out of necessity and naturally take advantage of that by raising prices. The real offers exist when there are many free places that have not been sold on time, and this happens a couple of weeks before, not at the last minute. There are studies that claim that eight weeks in advance, is a good time to acquire very cheap plane tickets.

8) What is the best day of the week to book a flight?

In a recent study, the prestigious The Wall Street Journal ran an investigation into the best day to buy airline tickets. They studied the sales movements of a total of ten airlines, concluding that we should avoid weekends, since in those days prices increase because workers have more free time to book their flights.

Mondays are the days when tenders are usually announced and, in case of not working, prices drop towards the middle of the week. As a result, and after studying these companies, the paper came to the conclusion that the key day of the week to buy tickets is Tuesday, although on Monday nights we can also get lucky and find good prices.

9) What is the best time to buy a ticket?

For three years another study was conducted on the price value of airlines and it was concluded that Tuesday at 3 pm is the best time to buy a plane ticket. That is when the largest number of seats cheaper is on the market.

10) Avoid that the day of departure or arrival coincides with the weekends.

We know that for most workers and students, the weekend is the best time to travel. But, although it is not impossible to find good prices these days of the week, it is true that they are usually higher if they coincide with Friday or Sunday. Demand is much higher these days, so airlines do not offer great prices.

So what is actually the best moment to buy?

It is good to follow the suggestion of being constant in your search for tickets, tickets or tickets (as you call them in your country), that is, looking at different days at different times. However, the fact is that there is a specific day recommended by experts to find the cheapest prices when buying your flight on the internet. This time we are going to tell you what that particular day is and why.

Why Tuesday?

McCartney cites flight price fluctuation specialist Bob Harrell , who has explained that airlines generally start raising their prices Thursday night. After making that increase, they wait for a few days to see if the competition does the same and in how much. Once over the weekend, specifically on Monday night, airlines again lower their prices. That's why Tuesday is the day when discounted rates are more available.

Pay attention also to Wednesdays and Thursdays!

Wednesdays and Thursdays are also good to look for deals, as they are within the cycle of low prices during the week. What you should avoid is buying your flight on weekends, since those days tend to present the highest prices.

Travel in August!

The best time to buy a plane ticket is seven weeks before the flight, so if you want to travel during the first week of August, when you get more trips, you have to buy the tickets now!.

With this forecast, we can find tickets up to 9.7% cheaper, which, if traveling as a family, can save 168 Euros (and a whopping 50 million Euros if all the Spaniards bought in the best moment). However, few travelers book with this anticipation, since nine out of ten travelers confess that they do not know what the adequate time to do so is.

Optimal anticipation by airport

Although it is clear that the activity that registers each airport is different, possibly it had not occurred to you that there is an ideal time to book flights depending on the city ​​of departure. This ignorance makes the opportunity to waste interesting opportunities for the pocket.

So, to find the best rates if you travel from Bilbao, you must buy the ticket 13 weeks before the flight, while if you do from Santiago, the ideal anticipation is only six weeks. With regard to flights departing from the most trafficked airports in the country - Madrid and Barcelona - in both cases the best time to buy is in the nine weeks.

In short, the best thing to get good prices is to buy our flight with a minimum of two weeks in advance, avoid doing it on the weekend, preferably on a Tuesday and at three in the afternoon.