when do airlines post new rates?

Question

when will I find a lower airline rate

Answer 1

From my exerpience it is something like this.

Rates change constantly. All the time. Every day.

In the USA reservations are held until 12 midnight Pacific Time (at the most). What happens to unpurchased reservations? They get put back in the system.

I believe this is how it works. At 12 midnight Pacific Time the system cancels out unpurchased reservations. The computers update and this takes time. By 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. Pacific Time the fares reappear online and for sale again.

I discovered this in November 2003 when I was searching for a fare to Caracas, VZ. I found the flight one day and was playing around with going or not. Then the next day I could night find it. Finally the following morning at 2 a.m. Pacific Time I found the exact fare again.

Based upon this experience I believe this is when and how fares get back into the system.

There are many fares out there. There are Consolidator Fares. These are companies such as: Tour Companies, Travel Agencies, and other who purchares blocks of tickets for a lower price and then resell them. As the date of the flight approaches these fares actually go down in price since they will loose their investment if they do not resell that ticket.

One thing to remember is that since 9-11, the airlines have consolidated routes and planes. I think there are fewer seats available so prices may be higher. Season of travel, time of day of travel, and day of week all make a difference.

Go to: http://www.SideStep.Com . This site will search multiple sites including Expedia, Orbtiz, et. al., and travel agencies and others who have tickets for sale.

The best thing to do is to shop and compare.

Answer 2

There's no golden rule for this. Rates keep changing dynamically with supply and demand. However, you can put in mind this rule: if you are travelling in a holiday season and/or weekend, you should book early as it gets more expensive as the date becomes close. Otherwise, you can wait until very close to the date for special offers, especially when the flight is not that full. But this is not necessarily true as many airlines use sophisticated models nowadays to distribute fares. My recommendation is to know your options, ie. which airlines fly directly and indirectly to where you want, and then search for fares through different online and offline channels.