Where to Buy an Airline Ticket

Shoppers looking for the cheapest airfare can learn something from stand-up comedians: It's all about timing.
Start shopping (not buying) early; typically, airlines start actively managing their cheapest seats about four months before departure.

But don't buy too early; tickets purchased before this four month window will generally be priced at a midtier level. An exception: shopping for busy holiday times (Thanksgiving, Christmas); due to current price hikes and ever-increasing fuel surcharges, you may want to purchase these tickets earlier than usual, to lock in the price. While few domestic fares require purchase 21 days before departure, the cheapest tickets often still require 14-day advance purchase. Toget tickets before the cheapest seats sell out, buy a month or two in advance.

When to buy: Pelletier says, “Recent fare analysis by the Airlines Reporting Corporation, which processes ticket transactions for airlines and travel agencies, reported that over the past four years passengers paid the lowest price for domestic flights when buying just about six weeks in advance.”

Ticket prices are highest on weekends, on average, according to online travel agencies, fare trackers and airline pricing executives.

When's the best time to buy? Travel experts have long said Tuesday is when sales are most often in place, which is true. An analysis of domestic fares shows that Wednesday also has good -- and occasionally better -- ticket prices. Be flexible in scheduling your flight. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays are typically the cheapest days to fly; late-night flights ('red-eyes'), very early morning flights and flights with at least one stop tend to be discounted as well.

The day you depart can more heavily influence the fare than the day you buy. If your plans are flexible, travel on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday and you typically find prices far below Monday, Friday or Sunday flights. Sale discounts are bigger on offpeak days than peak days as well. Higher demand for peak days leads to higher prices.

Find out whether the stated fare is the cheapest, and inquire about other options when speaking to the airline reservations clerk. If you're using the Internet, check more than one Web site and compare rates.

If You’re Traveling …

At a Normal Time (Not During the Holidays or High Season)

Non-peak domestic flights present one of your best shots at timing your ticket-buying. This will be easiest if it’s a route you’re familiar with and you have a sense of what a good price is.

Here’s your plan of attack:

• Check available tickets eight to ten weeks before your departure. If the flights aren’t too booked, wait until six weeks prior.
• At six weeks: If the price looks good, go ahead and book. If the tickets look a little high but your flight is pretty full, buy anyway because fares will probably only go up. If the price is high and your flight is pretty empty, you can choose to wait a week or two to see if prices decrease.
• Consult resources like Kayak’s fare chart and Bing’s price predictor to see if your flight’s price is likely to go down. Put a fare alert on a few different airlines.
• Right before you’re two weeks out, buy your tickets. If you book within 14 days, airlines assume you’re a business traveler and will charge you a premium.

To a Popular Location in the High Season

Disney World during summer break. Aspen during ski season. Anywhere warm during the winter. When you’re trying to go somewhere at a popular time, buy tickets well in advance.

When to buy: One to three months in advance—preferably three.

Bonus tip: Prices will be lowest if you avoid the usual Friday to Sunday weekend cycle. If you’re going for a weekend, try using the “weekend trip” option under the “flexible trip” search on most web resources like Kayak. This lets you define weekend however you want, whether Friday to Sunday or Saturday to Monday, so you can find the cheapest options.

Around a Holiday

Pelletier told me Thanksgiving is the absolute hardest to buy tickets for, because everyone is trying to fly out and return on the same days (Wednesday to Sunday). Christmas is more flexible because people choose different days off. Notice when holidays fall midweek. For example, if July 4th falls on Wednesday (like this year) some people take time off before, some after. This allows you more flexibility in buying tickets.

When to buy: At least three months out. Aim to buy Thanksgiving tickets the Tuesday after Labor Day; don’t book too early because rates will usually come down at least a little after the summer, when rates are high because gas is expensive.

Bonus tip: If you can, avoid Sunday flights and traditional travel days. That could mean leaving before and coming back later than most people, or flying on the holiday itself. Pelletier told us you can often save 50% on a ticket by flying Christmas Eve or day. “We saved $300 per ticket around Thanksgiving for our family of four,” she told us, “by flying out the Saturday before Thanksgiving and coming back the Saturday after. Not everyone can swing that with their work schedules, so my advice is to leave Thanksgiving day and return on Saturday for cheaper fares.”

Over the Summer

If you’re looking to travel this summer, book your flights right away because there will almost certainly be more fare increases to come. Extra hint: Pelletier recommends taking earlier morning flights because rain delays are a lot more common in the summer.

When to buy: Three months before your departure, depending on where you’re going. More than any other season, buy early because gas prices are notoriously high. Prices usually only go up as the summer progresses.

Bonus tip: Extend the summer for better prices—if you can book your vacation for May or September, you’re likely to save as much as 25-50% on air and hotel. You can also find deals when certain regions have slow seasons because of school schedules. For instance, Northeast schools are usually in session through mid-June, so beaches in New England offer deals in early June. Southeastern schools start back in mid-August, so beach destinations in South Carolina and Florida may offer late August deals.

One of the iron laws of travel is that fuel prices rise in the summer. Higher temperatures make butane and other cheap and popular petrol additives evaporate, causing smog, so air-quality regulations prevent their usage during the summer. (See Slate's explainer for more on petrol fuel blends.) Also, more Americans and Europeans go on holiday in summer, so demand rises for airline and train tickets.

During the Fall

Autumn isn’t typically leisure travel season since kids are back in school, so there are a lot of great fare sales, particularly last-minute ones around late September or October. If you are open and flexible, this is a great season for an off-peak leisure trip to a mountainous area or somewhere off-season like Mexico.

When to buy: You can wait longer and be more open to last-minute deals (like two to four weeks in advance) in the fall. If you need to go somewhere in particular, though, buy six weeks in advance so you aren’t gambling.

Bonus tip: Avoid fall convention hotspots like Las Vegas, NYC and Orlando. A great time for a cheap leisure trip is between Thanksgiving and Christmas. For trips during that time, start looking in September.

In the Winter

Aside from the obvious winter holidays, traveling in the winter will depend a lot on where you’re going. If it’s a warm getaway, you’re buying in the high season. If you’re going somewhere less popular (read: to and from colder locales) you’ll have more leeway.

When to buy: If you’re going skiing, book extremely early because ski season is so short and flights to tiny ski towns are often small—at least three months in advance, if not as early as September! If you’re traveling somewhere warm, give yourself three months. If you’re going to an unpopular destination, you can play closer to the bone and try to time the best prices. (Check out the section about off-peak travel for the plan of attack.)

In the Springtime

Spring is pretty expensive across the board because of spring break and Easter holidays. Spring breaks are different for college kids, families, public schools, private schools … Find out when spring breaks are in your region and try to avoid those dates like the plague. You can search your county’s school district’s website for the dates.

When to buy: If you’re traveling any time during your area’s spring break, at least three months in advance. If not, you can look at how full your flight is and try to time your purchase for the best prices.

Tips & Warnings

• Note strict refund and exchange policies on tickets bought through name-your-price sites.
• Once you've shopped around, consult a travel agent to find out if he or she can ferret out a cheaper ticket.
• If you take at least two trips a year, you can get discounted fares by joining a travel club.
• If you will be visiting different countries on the same trip, you can save by asking the agent to arrange open-jaw flights, in which you arrive in one city but depart from another.
• Ask about student, senior and military discounts.
• Consolidators may delay in delivering your tickets, don't allow refunds or exchanges, and don't take reservations. To protect yourself, purchase through a travel agent, pay by credit card, and consider buying travel-cancellation insurance.

Where to buy an airline ticket: