Foreign? Probably a couple months ago. Domestic? Right now.

Now

Track prices on Google flights and hopper, but buy directly from the airline.

1. Look to see if there are alternative airports near your departure / destination that may give you a cheaper fare
2. Set up a fare alert and see what happens
3. If after a month or so there's not much movement in price you probably need to decide if you want to continue and gable on price and wait for longer, or just bite the bullet and pay

March sucks for flights. It’s spring break….any chance you can do it a bit earlier?

As early as you can, though prob not 6 months early

Normally, I would say that looking at kayak and seeing what they say about when to buy vs wait; however, I have a feeling that with covid things have changed. As other people say only ever buy direct from the airline.

If you have the flexibility, the best bet might be looking at nearby airports. For example, instead of leaving Tampa, look at flights leaving from Orlando and vice versa. If there is competition between airlines, the flight prices are going to be much lower than if an airline has a monopoly.

I’ve gotten very lucky with my trips, but that’s because I book 6-12 months in advance. I’ve got a trip to Europe from US (with Lufthansa) in May-June that was under $400, but I booked last June. As soon as you’re comfortable with the price just book it. It’ll just keep getting higher. Good luck.

Specifically, US domestic and international.

In other places, the dynamic is different. For instance, in SE Asia, best price window for domestic or regional tickets is 2-6 weeks, and 3 months is typically too far out for promotions to kick in.

Not sure what the window is in Europe with their low cost carriers.

Cheapest tickets are always going to be from some random sale that could be any time within a year of the flight date. As long as you are open to go anywhere, anytime, you will be able to find a cheap flight. If your destination and times are set far in advance, it's much, much harder to find super cheap flights.

I’ve flown to Europe 4 times now for under $600 round trip and two of them were below $500. One was a direct flight. I always book on a Sunday night (late) and use Google flights. I’ve found 8-12 weeks in advance is the cheapest for me but I know that’s stressful that close to the trip! I’ve only left from major airports in large cities but those are the things that worked best for me!

Also Tuesday and Wednesday seem to be better priced days generally

I live in Chicago. That’s why getting inexpensive flights is easy for us.

If you buy your ticket on Tuesday. Six weeks before your trip

1. Search as early as possible for the flight.

2. After research use another device or change your IP (flights become more expensive if the same IP comes more than one time)

3. Check the options with luggage, check-In, insurances etc. There you can safe some dollars...

Depends. It always depends. That’s why you have first minute, last minute, high season, low season, charters, people who says tuesday is a good day to travel, ... your best option is to start chrome in incognito mode and research your flights. Generally first minute deals are reliably less expensive than counting on any last minute ones, especially over high season.

I’d suggest mornings over evenings, months before over weeks before, skyscanner, direct airline bookings. Sometimes it’s fine to take a flight over a travel agency, since there’s some handling included there if your flights get delayed or cancelled. It’s not always ok to take the lowest fare as it will inconvenience you with 6am flights from an airport which might be 100 of miles away, so it’s good to take travel time into account to be more comfortable.

depending on who you’re flying with, some airlines do seat sales!!! these are usually done after Christmas in January, but you can grab some pretty good deals! they’re actually how my sister books most of her flights. hope this helps!

Be careful with relying on seat sales as they usually have a stipulation of “Travel by...” a certain date.

These sales usually pop up for a 3 month window of travel, so you could cut it close to when you actually want to go.

Google flights has an awesome feature that allows you to track flight prices and see a graph that depicts how the flight price has fluctuated over time. I would take a look at that! It definitely depends on the time of year, and I would usually say a month and a half out is probably ideal, but for Christmas, I would say 2-3 months out unless you see that the prices are changing rapidly.

For international, 8 weeks out seems to be a sweet spot for me where they are pretty affordable.

I usually try to do about 1 month ahead, no matter the time of year.

Even earlier is better, but that's just for peace of mind. I haven't seen much difference in price between 1 or 2 or 3 months earlier. However, one thing that is different will be if you get a more direct flight or a flight with more than 1 or 2 stops, the sooner you get to the flight date.

However, that doesn't mean you won't find some better deals as time comes. Airline tickets change even based on sales promotions, so you just never know.

But the best thing about knowing ahead of time that you want to travel, is to add some alerts about your travel destination. When the price falls to your desired limit, then buy it, regardless of whether you think there might be some lower price later on. It already reached your comfortable threshold so grab it at that price.

Usually 2-3 months out is the very latest you should go.

The correct answer is that it's so variable as to almost be useless to try and predict, particularly these days. Scott's cheap flights is great if you have some flexibility.

That said, a good rule of thumb is 3 months. It's not perfect, but its kinda worked for me.

Hello! Something i learned from some travellers. Try to buy tour tickets from another country/state that you are travelling to or from. Or use a VPN.

Definitely before the flight, for sure.

Google flight is your best friend when it comes to researching prices.

https://www.google.com/travel/flights

7:13 p.m.

Not so sure. I have gotten some really good deals buying tickets on the day after takeoff.

There is no day that is cheaper to BUY

There are days that are cheaper to FLY.

Avoid demand - i.e. avoid weekends and be flexible with duration of stay.

Depends on the area , but generally speaking avoid fridays and travelling at night is almost always cheaper

I've heard Tuesdays

None. Your question is predicated upon the fantasy of an urban myth and has been debunked many times. Anecdotal evidence is not empirical

When it comes to finding cheaper flights, there are several factors to consider, such as the airline, destination, time of year, and day of the week. Generally, flights booked on midweek days like Tuesday and Wednesday tend to be cheaper, along with early morning or late-night flights. To avoid higher prices, it's best to book flights outside of peak travel seasons and to plan ahead by booking several weeks or even months in advance. Additionally, consider looking into budget airlines for lower prices, but keep in mind that they may have fewer amenities or additional fees. By comparing prices across different airlines and being flexible with your travel dates and times, you can increase your chances of finding affordable flights that fit your budget.

It’s always cheapest to fly on Tuesday and Wednesday.

you can actually see the price differences when looking at online fares. Tues-wed are usually the lowest fare, purchasing in advance reduces fare sometimes too.

It's also said that buying your ticket on Tues is also cheapest, but best to keep a lookout and watch the trend.

http://flights.google.com