Post: #1

Quote:Finally, there’s a scientific answer to that magic number of days before a flight when tickets are at their cheapest.

The answer? Are you ready? Are you reeeally ready?

Fifty-four days before takeoff is, on average, when domestic airline tickets are at their absolute lowest price. And if you don’t hit 54 days on the head, you should usually book between 104 to 29 days before your trip -- within the “prime booking window” -- for the lowest possible prices. In this window, ticket prices typically hover within $10 of the lowest price they’ll ever reach.

At least that’s what the data from 2013 tells us.

The folks at CheapAir spent the last year analyzing over four million airline trips. They tracked ticket prices from 320 days before takeoff all the way up until the day before, calculating precisely which day each one hit its lowest point.

Air travelers tend to believe they’ll find the lowest of low prices when they book “at the last minute.” This, according to all present data, is one hundred percent false.

The researchers found that, on average, a ticket was at its highest price on the day before the flight. The second-highest price was two days before the flight, the third-highest was three days before… and so on, all the way to 13 days before the flight.

This pretty much solidifies the rule that you should NEVER book your ticket within two weeks of a flight… a mistake that 36 percent of CheapAir users made when planning their trips.

While the researchers found that 54 days was indeed the magic number for booking on average, they’re quick to point out that this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule: your flight’s “best price” window depends a lot on the specific trip you’re taking.

If you’re going somewhere incredibly popular at an incredibly popular time -- like spring break in Florida, for example -- you should book well before the “prime booking window” begins. When there’s constant, strong demand for a flight, the researchers explain, airlines have no incentive to lower ticket prices as time goes on. The same principle holds true for flights to hard-to-reach airports in small cities: there’s little airline competition here, so ticket prices don’t drop nearly as much over their lifespan.

Foreign countries are incredibly popular destinations with hard-to-reach airports, so the researchers suggest booking much earlier than the 54 days recommended for domestic flights.

Here are the “magic numbers” for some common international destinations:

Europe: 151 days before your flight
Asia: 129 days before your flight
The Caribbean: 101 days before your flight
Mexico: 89 days before your flight
Latin America: 80 days before your flight

Happy booking, travelers!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/01...75266.html

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #2

To add to this, someone on my FB commented that you can save money by clearing your cookies when you go to buy the ticket. Apparently, websites use the cookie tracking to charge you more on your second visit, knowing you'll be more likely to think it went up and pay more (maybe even adding in some urgency).

I never thought of this but it seems true thinking back. And makes sense from a marketing perspective.

Worth a shot next time you go to book.

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #3

Can browsing in incognito mode achieve the same thing as clearing cookies? It's less hassle.

Post: #4

Not sure. But doesn't take long to clear them right before purchase and the person who mentioned it was saying she's seen people save $300 that way, so I'd say it's worth the 30 seconds it takes to clear them. Could get old if you were doing it on every search though.

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #5

(03-04-2014 08:18 AM)Menace Wrote:  Can browsing in incognito mode achieve the same thing as clearing cookies? It's less hassle.

Yes. Just to be safe I'd try to make sure both visits are in incognito mode.

Post: #6

also use IE or chrome, safari browsers are charged more. google it

Post: #7

(03-04-2014 07:50 AM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  To add to this, someone on my FB commented that you can save money by clearing your cookies when you go to buy the ticket. Apparently, websites use the cookie tracking to charge you more on your second visit, knowing you'll be more likely to think it went up and pay more (maybe even adding in some urgency).

I never thought of this but it seems true thinking back. And makes sense from a marketing perspective.

Worth a shot next time you go to book.

Use Google Flights to search for and track ticket prices.

Post: #8

Many airline sites ask what country you are from.

If they then book from other than USA, Canada, EUROPE

Post: #9

(03-04-2014 07:50 AM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  To add to this, someone on my FB commented that you can save money by clearing your cookies when you go to buy the ticket. Apparently, websites use the cookie tracking to charge you more on your second visit, knowing you'll be more likely to think it went up and pay more (maybe even adding in some urgency).

I never thought of this but it seems true thinking back. And makes sense from a marketing perspective.

Worth a shot next time you go to book.

I've heard of this, but never seen it in action, at least when booking on Expedia. They know who I am (I'm usually even logged in when I do it), and always right before booking, I go to the airline's website to confirm I can't get a better price there. It's always the same on that site also .. though I suppose Expedia does guarantee you're getting the best price.

I'm not sure why booking sites would raise the price like this, given that it's so easy for you to just check the price on some other site and you'll just book on the other site if you get a batter price.

Post: #10

(03-04-2014 11:15 PM)paninaro Wrote:  

(03-04-2014 07:50 AM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  To add to this, someone on my FB commented that you can save money by clearing your cookies when you go to buy the ticket. Apparently, websites use the cookie tracking to charge you more on your second visit, knowing you'll be more likely to think it went up and pay more (maybe even adding in some urgency).

I never thought of this but it seems true thinking back. And makes sense from a marketing perspective.

Worth a shot next time you go to book.

I've heard of this, but never seen it in action, at least when booking on Expedia. They know who I am (I'm usually even logged in when I do it), and always right before booking, I go to the airline's website to confirm I can't get a better price there. It's always the same on that site also .. though I suppose Expedia does guarantee you're getting the best price.

I'm not sure why booking sites would raise the price like this, given that it's so easy for you to just check the price on some other site and you'll just book on the other site if you get a batter price.

Yep, this is an old wives tale, just like booking at night is cheaper because they raise the rates for business travelers. I think a lot of these "tricks" were probably true at one point but not any longer.

Post: #11

Edreams may have been working the cookie when I booked a one-way ticket from the US to Warsaw a month or so ago. They had a price of $663, which was considerably lower than I found on any other site. I was ready to pull the trigger, but they wanted my passport number, and my renewed passport (the old one had 10 years on it) hadn't returned yet from the State Dept., so I couldn't buy the ticket. The new passport comes in the mail the next day, I go back to edreams, and the price for the same flight was more than $200 more. On a hunch, I go to the library to use the computer there, and the price was back to $663.

I went with this Lot Polish Airlines ticket after looking carefully at all cheap fares to Europe. In particular, I compared it to the ridiculously cheap fares on Norwegian Air, to which Mentavious called attention a few months back. On certain days in March it was only $187 from L.A. to Copenhagen, and connecting flights to L.A. would have worked conveniently for me. But LOT doesn't charge anything for two checked bags, whereas everything extra with Norwegian costs. When I tallied up all the numbers getting to where I wanted to be, LOT cost less than $100 more.

Which made it an easy choice. Given the information provided here recently about being able to stay in the Schengen Zone indefinitely if you fly from the U.S. into Poland then leave Poland every 90 days and get a new 90-day stamp when you return, Poland seems like the venue of choice to enter Europe. I'm not sure if I will put this to the test, as I plan to spend a lot of time outside the Schengen Zone in the Balkans, but it's nice to have the option.

Post: #12

(03-06-2014 10:17 PM)OlderGuyGame Wrote:  Edreams may have been working the cookie when I booked a one-way ticket from the US to Warsaw a month or so ago. They had a price of $663, which was considerably lower than I found on any other site. I was ready to pull the trigger, but they wanted my passport number, and my renewed passport (the old one had 10 years on it) hadn't returned yet from the State Dept., so I couldn't buy the ticket. The new passport comes in the mail the next day, I go back to edreams, and the price for the same flight was more than $200 more. On a hunch, I go to the library to use the computer there, and the price was back to $663.

I've seen this happen myself but only due to inventory changes. Some sites (and in particular, travel agents) can reserve a ticket for 24 hours, so that takes the cheap fare out of circulation, but then it goes back into circulation if the customer didn't end up booking. Same with when you book online -- I assume the sites put a hold on that seat while you go through the booking process.

Post: #13

This study is built on averages of averages. The figure isn't very helpful other than as a very general indicator. What is a constant is that flights are cheaper in the middle of the week. With most good travel sites having a month long search is easier than ever in researching what airfare is best for you.

Post: #14

I assume this study is based on booking a specific flight on a specific day? What if, I want to travel in May, to Europe from Eastern Canada, and can just as easily not go, but will go if I get a deal? When do you book for that deal? In my experience its the last minute that always takes it.

Best ticket ever was with a seasonal operator from Canada. Booked the last flight down to Florida, and then that plane was bringing ppl back, and there simply wasn't a return on that carrier for me. I paid $19 for a 4 hour flight (before tax). When else other than 12 hours before are you going to find airlines desperate to fill otherwise empty seats? When they've finally realized there aren't hoards of Japanese business men who need to fly to holiday destinations last minute? Like everything its supply and demand. While definitely the minority (but less so on here), there is a group of people who can and will drop everything at the last minute for a flight if the price is right. Some airlines will cater to them.

So it a question of the best average price from A to B at time C, or the best price ever from A to B?

Post: #15

I bet it's a good time to book some cheap Malaysia Airlines tickets right now.

Post: #16

I've saved money on skyscanner by changing my country of origin. That would be the last variable input after you've found the best fare to your destination. But today I just tried that and found no difference.

Also I tried Google Chrome after Safari and saw no difference.

Norwegian's Oslo/Stockholm are the best hubs out of Europe to Asia or the US at present. Thomas Cooke out of Manchester (to the US) is the best in summer it seems.

Post: #17

(03-04-2014 07:48 AM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  

Quote:Finally, there’s a scientific answer to that magic number of days before a flight when tickets are at their cheapest.

The answer? Are you ready? Are you reeeally ready?

Fifty-four days before takeoff is, on average, when domestic airline tickets are at their absolute lowest price. And if you don’t hit 54 days on the head, you should usually book between 104 to 29 days before your trip -- within the “prime booking window” -- for the lowest possible prices. In this window, ticket prices typically hover within $10 of the lowest price they’ll ever reach.

At least that’s what the data from 2013 tells us.

The folks at CheapAir spent the last year analyzing over four million airline trips. They tracked ticket prices from 320 days before takeoff all the way up until the day before, calculating precisely which day each one hit its lowest point.

Air travelers tend to believe they’ll find the lowest of low prices when they book “at the last minute.” This, according to all present data, is one hundred percent false.

The researchers found that, on average, a ticket was at its highest price on the day before the flight. The second-highest price was two days before the flight, the third-highest was three days before… and so on, all the way to 13 days before the flight.

This pretty much solidifies the rule that you should NEVER book your ticket within two weeks of a flight… a mistake that 36 percent of CheapAir users made when planning their trips.

While the researchers found that 54 days was indeed the magic number for booking on average, they’re quick to point out that this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule: your flight’s “best price” window depends a lot on the specific trip you’re taking.

If you’re going somewhere incredibly popular at an incredibly popular time -- like spring break in Florida, for example -- you should book well before the “prime booking window” begins. When there’s constant, strong demand for a flight, the researchers explain, airlines have no incentive to lower ticket prices as time goes on. The same principle holds true for flights to hard-to-reach airports in small cities: there’s little airline competition here, so ticket prices don’t drop nearly as much over their lifespan.

Foreign countries are incredibly popular destinations with hard-to-reach airports, so the researchers suggest booking much earlier than the 54 days recommended for domestic flights.

Here are the “magic numbers” for some common international destinations:

Europe: 151 days before your flight
Asia: 129 days before your flight
The Caribbean: 101 days before your flight
Mexico: 89 days before your flight
Latin America: 80 days before your flight

Happy booking, travelers!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/01...75266.html

Thanks for the magic numbers. I hope on my next trip I will find the perfect travel deals. What I do often is to look on sites like www.tiket.com. They usually have weekly changing offers. As far as I know it is probably the fastest growing travel platform. So I think I will try both and hope I am lucky.

Post: #18

(03-09-2014 04:26 AM)RioNomad Wrote:  I bet it's a good time to book some cheap Malaysia Airlines tickets right now.

Too soon.

Give it two weeks.