Aug 08
Tip For Best Purchase Time of Airline Tickets
What's the absolute best time to purchase a ticket directly from the airlines? Turns out it's Wednesday from midnight to 1a.m. in the time zone of the airline's "home base." (For instance, Delta is headquartered in Utah Atlanta and United currently calls Chicago home.)
Why? That's when the computer systems of most airlines get rid of the reserved but unbooked lower fare reservations. Most of us at one time or another have booked a reservation, then let it go without purchase. Snap-up these discounted fares right after this happens and you're likely to get a significant discount.
Source: AARP
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Comments
Will give it a try. Delta, btw, calls Atlanta home although Utah would be a nice alternative.
Have to agree with Bob, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta - my wife is retired from Delta. But, Utah is nice.
Does this only apply to US airlines?
Thanks for the correction. It turns out that Salt Lake City is only a "hub" for Delta and Atlanta is where they are headquartered.
Hates_ - This info was based on U.S. airlines, so I am unsure if this would work for airlines in other countries.
is that really true, if so has anybody noticed any big difference in the prices ?
I will try tomorrow to book at midnight and I will let you know if prices are better.
Wednesday is the best day to look for ticket bargains... Furthermore my experience shows that the best Wednesday bargains are for flights three weeks in advance. This Wednesday for example is August 9th: the best prices will be for those flights from August 30th to September 5th, next Wednesday the "sweet spot" falls from September 6th to 12th, and so on...
Yeah baby...cheap airline tickets
This item makes sense only to a person with rudimentary understanding of how computer systems work. I can see Wednesday in general being better due to patterns in business vs. leasure travel. I can see that SOME TIME AFTER MIDNIGHT (every night) booked seats are released. But to claim that all all airlines decided to keep the booked seats until Wednesday and then release them first thing after midnight makes no sense. Release of booked items is a daily process, not weekly. Plus, aren't booked items held for 24/48 or however many HOURS and not until next Wednesday. Sorry if you booked something late Tuesday night, you are SOL :)
I think this has less to do with computer systems, and more to do with business pratices. This has gotten press previously in the Wall Street Journal and the reason given was that the major airlines operate as a cartel, and in general they only make price adjustments on Wednesdays, and then fairly quickly pull back if the others don't match.
Found this handy website mentioned in Time magazine:
www.farecast.com
The site is in beta, so the only departure cities are Boston and Seattle for now. Hope to see this become really helpful in the future
Hmm. I haven't really noticed prices being significantly higher after 1am...unless of course you wait hours and hours until 8 or 9. I usually buy airline tickets between 3am (when things at my "day" job get quiet) and 6am (when they start to get busy again), although this isn't to save money so much as because that's overwhelmingly the most convenient time.
Thanks for the tip ;)
How is this different then when the airlines automatically remove your unbooked reservation after 24 or 48 hours?
Most airlines will only hold the tickets for you for a short time, automatically releasing them afterwards.
What's different about this "Wednesday flush"?
My experience comes from working with databases for airlines. Based on what i have seen, the change in prices is not directly related to the automatic release of unbooked reservations (that happens on a daily basis set at predefined intervals by individual carriers).
Each Wednesday, airlines release thier next set of scheduled flights along with any blocks of seats (seats set aside for their thrid party resellers that were unsold).
The price that we as consumers pay are directly related to supply and demand (among other factors which for simplicity sake we will leave out for now). Prices for seats are set on a tier structure so as the plane gets filled up the prices increase. By booking on Wednesday mornings when the supply arrives on the market, you are able to catch the price at a lower tier thus paying less.
Sorry to burst the bubble on this, but the Wednesday @ midnight low-fare myth is just that: a myth. Debunked in detail here:
upgradetravel.blogspot...
My expereince was backward. I looked at ticket prices on Wed late night and saw tickets for my trip all for around $180. Decided to think it over and buy them the next day. I flipped out when i saw all the prices had more then doubled. I did some googling to try to understand what was going on, and i found out about the Wednesday night release of new pricing structures. It's not the tickets necessarily that are released, it's the prices for outstanding tix. It has to do with coordinating sales with the wholesale market, as I understand.
This "myth" is not a myth. I had been searching for plane tickets for a week and notice a significant increase in the price from a Saturday to a Wednesday. On Wednesday, my tickets for three people would have cost just under $1400. I decided to wait until after midnight to see if this tip was correct. Early Tuesday morning, I purchased my three tickets for $832. I am a believer. For fun, I then tracked the same tickets over the next week and saw the price go up significantly and drop dramtically again after midnight the following Wednesday.
How far before your trip did you book your airline flights when you got the lower deal after midnight on Wednesday?
Did you mean to say you got the tickets early THURSDAY am?
Will it make any difference trying to buy them during those times if you need flights for the holidays? I am looking at flying around Thanksgiving and the prices seem to be getting higher as time goes on. Wondering if it is worth to wait until the hours to see.... or just purchase them now..
We been working for 2 years on a new airfare system that covers everything without profit in mind.
Still in beta, but feel free to check it out. We have a comment form there, so it would be good
to possitive feedback, suggestions before it goes live in a month.
wwwtictrip.com/airfare...
Many if these big companies will not pay much if you do not put their special airfares first.
This system is made to solve the entire airfare problem. It will not make them much until they
can get their own airline ticket engines in there. But for now nothing is marked up, so please
check it out, and tell me what you think.
Im having the same issue as Erin...do Holidays make a difference?
sorry link was bad. www.tictrip.com/airfar...
This system has 12 combinations of airfare which cover over 400 airline sites.
I just trying to say that half of these are not paying anything now.
But it would be good if they can make a little, and keep everything the same
down the road before the beta goes live.
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I just waited until Wednesday at midnight to book a flight - Not only did the price not go down, it went up $70.00 for the round trip - Ouch! Now I don't know whether to wait hoping the tickets will go back down or book now before they go up even higher.
so do you suggest I buy my ticket today for atrip I am taking 5/29/2007
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Thanks for the correction. It turns out that Salt Lake City is only a "hub" for Delta and Atlanta is where they are headquartered.
Hates_ - This info was based on U.S. airlines, so I am unsure if this would work for airlines in other countries.
This system has 12 combinations of airfare which cover over 400 airline sites.
I just trying to say that half of these are not paying anything now.
But it would be good if they can make a little, and keep everything the same
down the road before the beta goes live.
This "myth" is not a myth. I had been searching for plane tickets for a week and notice a significant increase in the price from a Saturday to a Wednesday. On Wednesday, my tickets for three people would have cost just under $1400. I decided to wait until after midnight to see if this tip was correct. Early Tuesday morning, I purchased my three tickets for $832. I am a believer. For fun, I then tracked the same tickets over the next week and saw the price go up significantly and drop dramtically again after midnight the following Wednesday.
I believe this may be true, I looked to book a ticket from CA to MD yesterday which was Wed and the roundtrip price was $311, I went back online to book the same flight today and the price has risen to $447 for the same exact flight which I would be taking over a month from now....Don't know if this has anything to do with Wednesday but it seems it might.
Will it make any difference trying to buy them during those times if you need flights for the holidays? I am looking at flying around Thanksgiving and the prices seem to be getting higher as time goes on. Wondering if it is worth to wait until the hours to see.... or just purchase them now..
I need to purchase a ticket to the UK, when is the best time for purchasing international flights? I haven't found much by searching the internet.
Thanks for very interesting article. btw. I really enjoyed reading all of your posts. It’s interesting to read ideas, and observations from someone else’s point of view… makes you think more. So please keep up the great work. Greetings
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For the people with Holiday questions, I can say that if I'm going to spend time with relatives on Christmas, I get the absolute best price by flying on Christmas Day, and returning on New Years Day...can't remember how I used to do Thanksgiving...
Nice tip, I didn't know about this until reading your post.
This does not seem to apply to Australian Airlines. they must be on a different system
I just wanted to say that I tested this theory and found a difference of $275 on my ticket!
Does anyone know what airline has the best rates for flights to the UK?
I am looking a airline ticket from JFK or EWR to LAS. From December 12 afternoon to December 16, 2007 Noon, When is the best time to purchase.
I am looking a airline ticket from JFK or EWR to LAS. From December 12 afternoon to December 16, 2007 Noon, When is the best time to purchase.
I am looking a airline ticket from JFK or EWR to LAS. From December 12 afternoon to December 16, 2007 Noon, When is the best time to purchase.
I was recently looking for tickets around the holidays, and I wanted to spend the holidays home, but my husband has Dec. 22- Jan 2nd off from his job, and I found CHEAP CHEAP airfare flying out Dec 25 (yes christmas day, but I booked my tickets in the evening, christmas is over by the afternoon anyway!) and flying back on new years day, Jan 1st. Apparently no one really wants to fly ON a holiday, so they were DIRT cheap!!!
Its not Wednesday night to wait dummies. READ IT CAREFULLY. Wednesday from 12am to 1pm. So WED morning. Not Wed night! If you waited till thursday its too late
I believe it states Wednesday from midnight to 1 am, not pm, if you read it carefully.
what is the best time to book us airways?
Have to give it a try, it never hurts to try.
I need to buy a ticket to fly on 1/26/08. Should I buy the eticket now or wait to get the best deal?
Can anyone help me out with some insight? Is there any advantage on buying a ticket to fly more than 3 weeks in advance (on A Wednesday)?? Thanks~~~
we need a ticket to willkes-bare, pa and the cost
Maybe we should look at THIS link?
www.google.com/url?sa=...
Sorry, this: www.upgradetravelbette.../
Okay so I am looking to travel to London from the US in April and Im planning on waiting until next Wednesday to book my ticket but towards the end of all these comments I got a little confused- do I buy my ticket Tuesday at midnight to 1am on Wednesday or Wednesday at midnight to Thursday 1am? This site was a great deal of help and an answer to many of my questions ~Thanks~
Last thursday I found a 218 round trip cleveland to austin; on Friday it was up to 278. So--i should expect it to be back down at 12:30 a.m. wednesday?
Silly question maybe, but when you Wednesday from midnight to 1:00 am ...but you mean starting Tues. night at 12:00 which is actually Wednesday.
I'm going to check this Wednesday and see if it helps any. I'm not flying until May 8th but I thought I might as well go ahead and start lookiing. The hardest part is deciding whether they've bottomed out or are going to keep going up.
I am in the same boat as everyone else on this site, so I need some help. I'm trying to get a flight from PHL to ATL for Apr 4-7. Last week my tickets for the roundtrip flight were $199 - including taxes & fees. Which was Wednesday & Thursday night. I went to purchase them Friday early morning and the ticket price is now $367. So...in that being said, by today being Wednesday should I wait until 12am - 1am going into Thursday? I use farecast.com and they advised me to wait. Does anyone have any other suggestions?
I tried to purchase a ticket at 9 p.m. on Friday. When I returned to the computer later at 12:30 a.m., the tickets had gone from $350 to $450. The ticket's I'm purchasing are for Sept, almost 6 mos away. Should I expect to get a better price or at least the original $350 price again?
Flying to Ft. Lauderdale from Minneapolis on November 15th, 2008, Returning November 23rd, 2008. Eight months away I know but when/how should I go about going after the cheap seaats. Is it too early? Will prices go up as we approach Thanksgiving? Spurging on a cruise and need to fly cheap!
Greg
What a load of crap. I was about to purchase a ticket for a business flight four weeks out from the west coast to LHR via AMS. The price (before taxes and fees) was $610, after midnight on Wednesday it jumped to over $1300. Obviously I didn't book it...how could it possibly go higher than that? Moving the trip out or in days or weeks made no difference at all. I'll wait...if it never comes down, well...the company is paying for it.
I think Wednesday may be a day when airlines commonly play with their rates, but it may go up or down and there's no telling if you're going to get a better rate or get screwed.
Where is AA headquarters?
dallas
farecast.com
Thanks for the tip, will try this and let everyone know how it goes.
kayak.com
Does this really work?
I need to buy two tickets for Feb 6, 09 roundtrip... is is worth getting them now our wait till closer? I want to fly nonstop...
Love the site:-)I will also ck tonight to see if fares changed...
Just tried this tip, and remarkably, it didn't seem to make the slightest difference. The ticket price at 12:30 Wednesday morning was the same as monday afternoon. However, this may be due to the fact that the flights i'm looking at are in June '08. How far in advance should you book a flight for the best possible price? Am I looking too far in advance?
For tips on domestic US flights and international, read the article from msnbc.msn.com below
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/1.../
i wanna know if i wanna a flight from august 5 to september 8 when should i buy it noting that i depart from jfk
dddddddddddddddddddddd...
Yes, I agree Wed after midnight is much cheaper then normal from my past experiences. But with the increase jet fuel cost, I have not found my cheaper prices yet and it is Wed after midnight.
Now that fuel is so expensive, when is the best time to buy a plane ticket?
What day of the week?
What time?
How many weeks in advance (or days)?
And which carrier usually has the cheapest prices?
Oh, and I'm flying from Atlanta to New York.
Lufthansa home base in USA please.....
what is the home base for ALASKA-AIR, SOUTHWEST, and US AIRWAYS?
what is the best time to book an air ticket for a trip to India in December?
It doesn't work at all.
Don't waste your time.
The good strategy is to check everyday.