This has been a recurring question among travelers for almost 30 years now – When is the best time to book cheap flights? Book your tickets too early and you will be sitting next to a guy who booked two months later and paid $100 less. Buy too late and you will find yourself paying through your nose for a ticket which you could have gotten for far less. Every year numerous firms crunch through millions of data trying to nail that elusive date to book cheap flights.
In 2013, a firm analyzed 4,191, 533 journeys. The study focused on trips between two destinations (A and B) for a specific date for a specific length of journey. Next, the firm analyzed the ticket pricing for a booking window period of 10 and half months. From 320 days to 1 day in advance and every possible date in between. At the end of the research, there was 1.3 billion air fares to go through and it was concluded that the best time to book cheap flight tickets is 54 days in advance. However it is not as simple as that, there are multitude of other factors that swing the price of a flight ticket.
The research a major myth among travelers – the best way to go about flight ticket booking is to wait until the last minute and wait for airlines to dump empty seats at throwaway prices. It is recommended to book your flight ticket at least 14 days in advance at the very least. The other end of the spectrum is booking too early. Most carriers publish fares about 11 month in advance, around 331 days. For a about four months since that date the flight ticket prices tend to be high and doesn't fluctuate much. This makes sense. Carriers don't need to get too aggressive with the pricing too far from the departure date.
According to the data, the fares started dropping around 225 day mark and continued the rapid downward spiral until about 104 days. From then on, the fares were still dropping, albeit at a much slower, steadier pace until it reached the lowest point on the 54th day before departure. From then on, the flight ticket prices started slowly rising again until about 29th day, and after the 14th day it started increasing dramatically.
In short, the best time to book cheap flight ticket is about 29 to 104 days prior to the departure date. This window is commonly referred to as 'prime booking window'. The fare difference between the best date to book flight ticket and the worst date was a whopping $312. This massive difference in fares further reiterates the importance of booking at the best time to snag that elusive cheap flight tickets.
Martin Wynn
