1. Start Searching Flights Booking Coupons as Early as Possible
Airlines
generally release tickets 11 months in advance. Start researching Flights Booking Coupons once you know you
are taking a trip and continue to check them at least once per week.
Air fares
fluctuate constantly. You can’t predict as supply and demand are out of our
control (just like the stock market).
Have a
price YOU are comfortable paying. You can play the game of watching and waiting
forever, which can reward you, but it can also frustrate and cost you.
Be ready
to act as soon as the price you are happy with is available. You’ll be
satisfied and won’t have regrets.
2. When is the Best Time to Buy Your Ticket?
There
really is no hard and fast rule. However, there are some general trends to be
aware of.
Be
mindful of when you are traveling. Peak season and holiday weekends will have
the most demand, so expect higher prices.
You can,
however, stack the odds in your favour by buying at a certain time.
A study
by couponcliq.com,
who analyzed 400 million flight searches, found an optimal time to buy was on
average 7 weeks in advance (for domestic flights). Others have
suggested a sweet spot of between 3-7 weeks in advance. The WORST time was
within 14 days of flying, or too far in advance, more than 5 months.
For
international flights, Cheap Air found the sweet spot is 11-12 weeks prior
to departure.
As for
which day of the week to buy on, they suggest no particular day was better than
the other and buying on a Tuesday and Wednesday was somewhat of an urban legend.
3. What Day is Best to Fly?
It might
not matter when you buy your tickets, but cheaper deals can be found depending
on the day you choose to fly.
The
consensus is that it’s best to FLY OUT on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday.
These are typical off-peak days usually meaning lower fares and less
passengers. You also have a better chance of grabbing frequent flyer seats.
Fridays and Sundays are usually the most expensive days to fly.
4. Be Flexible with Your Dates
The best
tactic to save money on flights is to be FLEXIBLE with your
travel dates. Give yourself the best chance by searching a couple of days, or
even weeks, either side of your preferred departure date.
If you
are locked into exact dates, it will be more challenging to get a better deal.
5. Adjust Your Times for Flying
Flying at
unpopular hours, such as the red-eye or early in the AM instead of late morning
through afternoon, increases your chance of getting cheaper tickets.
6. Consider Round Trip Tickets
Even if
you are only flying one way, sometimes they are so expensive that the round
trip ticket is actually cheaper. Just forfeit the return leg portion. We have
done this from Sydney to LA. Crazy, but it happens.
7. Consider a Longer Layover
Flights
with longer layovers usually have lower price tags.
One
advantage of the Expedia flight search is that you can plan
for longer stopovers on the same ticket.
8. Fly Where the Deals Are
Instead
of choosing a destination and then spending days or weeks trying to find a
flight deal, considering simply flying to where the flight deals already are.
Choose a
destination you can comfortably afford overall and will enjoy.
Simply
use a flight search engine that lets you type in your departure city and search
for a list of cheap flights to anywhere in the world.
The couponcliq.com website
is a great website way to search for flights booking coupons to anywhere.
Simply type in your departure city, your departure date, and select explore.
