When is the best time to buy plane tics/ how soon before your trip?

Answer 1

I fly international alot. The best way to get good airfares is to check the individual airlines often, at least once a week. They often have sales for a short time, less than week, but you can get some great ticket prices if you will spend the extra time working on it. Check the links below and watch them. I fly to Japan mostly and I have never paid over $900 to fly there and that was during a peak season. By doing a little extra work, I save hundreds of dollars on my tickets. A little work can go a long way.

Answer 2

The earlier you book the better. Airline fee schedules give the best rates for tickets boughts 21 days or more before the flight. After that the price goes up every seven days. The cheap seats also go first so the earlier you book the better chance you have opf getting a cheap seat. Sometimes that may mean booking months in advance if you are going to a popular destination, or you don't have the flexibility to change your travel dates, or if you are going to travel during a holiday period.

Best things to do are shop around on airline web sites and book early.

Answer 3

Usually at least 14 days before, but all the airlines have email specials that they send early in the week for that weekend or the next. Those are usually fairly cheap fares. Not incredible, but not bad. You'd have to sign up at the airline website - they don't pop up on Orbitz, etc.

Answer 4

The earliest you know about your trip. If you wait until 14 days before, you will find the prices skyrocketting.

Book as soon as you know

Answer 5

Try Orbitz. Link from page below

Answer 6

It depends on many factors.

1.Where you are going – If you are flying domestically, you should buy you tickets at least 21 days in advance. If you are flying from a large city to another large city, then there will be more seats and you can probably buy your tickets within 7 days or less. If you are flying from a small airport or to a small airport, then there will be limited seats once the seats start selling out, the price goes up and up. You should by tickets to or from a small airport as soon as possible. If you are flying international, you should buy your ticket at least 90 days in advance. Also, keep in mind that other countries operate differently on holidays. If you go to Australia in December through February, your in their summer season.

2.Time of year – If you are flying during the Christmas break, sprint break (early March through mid April), Summer break (late May through beginning of September) and during the Thanksgiving break, then you will need to book your tickets at least 21 days in advance for large cities and 2 to 3 months in advance for small cities. A special note about summer travel. Airfares are going to keep going up in intervals. You will get the best fare with 21 days in advance or more. Then there will be a hike at 14 day, 7 days and each day up to the day of travel. If there are an abundance of seats left on the day of travel, then the airline will slash prices. During the non peak travel times, airlines keep their prices in line with demand. The more seats available, the cheaper the fares. I have gotten decent fares the day of travel which is the way I usually travel, at the last minute.

3.Day of week that you fly – Fridays, Sundays and Mondays are the busiest days for travel. Avoid travel on these days and you should save some money.

4. Time of day you fly – Early morning and late night flights are usually the cheapest. Mid morning through early evening are the busiest times to fly. Of course if you are flying from a small town with 2 or 3 flights a day, then it won’t make a difference what time you go.

5.Which airlines you fly – The major airlines are going to have slightly higher fares on a normal basis since they have loyal customers who will patronize them no matter what. The discount carriers are generally going to have cheaper flights and more promotions and sales.

6.Nearby airports – If your in a city that has nearby airports or going to a city that has nearby airports, then you may be able to get a cheaper fare. Of course keep in mind how you will get to the city you are intending to get to in the first place.

7.Flexible dates – If your flexible on your dates, then you may be able to get a better fare. Use http://www.travelocity.com . They have a feature that lets you search up to 3 days before and after at the same time so you can compare fares on different dates. You may also try http://www.priceline.com and name your own fare. In order to have your offer accepted, you need to do some research on the current fares and then offer about 20% less than the lowest published fare on priceline. You will not get more than 40% off but that is very rare. 20% has worked out well for me on a few occasions. It’s even better on the day before you leave.

8.Standby – If your flying alone, consider buying the cheapest ticket on the day you want to fly which will probably be the last flight of the day. Then you go in earlier at the time you want to go and get put on standby. Worst case scenario, you end of taking your original flight. If your alone, chances are you should be able to get the flight you want. A special note about Southwest airlines. If you buy a discounted fare, anything other than a full fare ticket, you cannot standby unless you upgrade your ticket to a full fare ticket. Every other airline I’ve flown will allow you to standby even on discounted tickets.

9.Buying your ticket – Your best bet is to use a few sites to find your best fare. http://www.kayak.com is a great sight for comparing airfares from different booking sites and airlines directly. Once you find the lowest fare or the fare you want, go directly to the airlines website and book it. Most booking websites charge a $5 fee for doing the same thing that the airline’s website will do.

10. Hotel – Many times, adding a hotel to your airfare will get you a better deal. One time I needed to go to Chicago at the last minute and the best fare I could find was 600. But when I booked 3 nights a downtown hotel, I got the airfare and hotel for 450. This is rare but savings are out there. That was just insane.

Answer 7

Try this website: http://www.farecast.com/

Sadly it's only good for flights from Boston and Seattle, but they plan on adding more cities soon (so they say).

Answer 8

book your flights at least 21 days before departure for best rates. you can compare rates at kayak.com

Answer 9

As far as possible in advance of your trip to get them cheaper!!!

Answer 10

before u leave