Go Back  Fodor's Travel Talk Forums > Travel Topics > Air Travel
Reload this Page >

Is there a "best time" in the week to get the best price for air tickets?

Is there a "best time" in the week to get the best price for air tickets?

Old Apr 15th, 2007, 01:25 PM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 458
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Is there a "best time" in the week to get the best price for air tickets?

Just wondering: is there a best time in the week to check and maybe purchase airline tickets. When do the fares change? though I know that this is a closely guarded secret!
Margo is offline  
Old Apr 15th, 2007, 02:58 PM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,527
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Wednesday from midnight to 1a.m. in the time zone of the airline's "home base."
Greenhouse is offline  
Old Apr 15th, 2007, 03:39 PM
  #3  
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 23,073
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I have heard a lot of people mentioning about that Tuesday night thing, but my own experience is that prices change all the time, and personally I have not found prices to be significantly lower on Wednesday morning compared to other mornings.
rkkwan is offline  
Old Apr 15th, 2007, 03:48 PM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,527
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I have.
Greenhouse is offline  
Old Apr 16th, 2007, 06:30 AM
  #5  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 19,370
Received 79 Likes on 8 Posts
It may be that some airlines start fare sales at a given time (and I am not sure the Tuesday night thing is anything but an urban legend.) However, present YM technology operates in real time; some fare buckets will open up or close out on given flights according to the status of sales on that particular flight, from minute to minute. Remember that the "price" of any flight has to do with the fare categories remaining available on that plane on that day.

Fares for particular city pairs will move around from day to day, or hour to hour. A much better indicator of what airlines will do is what other airlines are doing - if one airline reduces prices for a given city pair in a given time period, all will follow suit immediately, whether it's Tuesday night or Sunday brunch. Because they all post fares to the same GDSs, they know of each others' prices within seconds, and their software can alter their prices just like that. Software never sleeps.
Gardyloo is offline  
Old Oct 12th, 2008, 06:09 PM
  #6  
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 2,832
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I was curious about this and found this old thread. I have seen several feature items on news shows recently. I think the last one was Peter Greenberg, travel guy on the today show, and he again stated the theory that the best prices are available on Tuesday night/Wednesday early AM. Any new thoughts on this?
azzure is offline  
Old Oct 12th, 2008, 07:10 PM
  #7  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 12,885
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
any time you find the fare you like is the best time. The Tuesday night/Wednesday morning stuff is long gone. It was probably true before the advent of travel reservations systems, or GDS the Global Distribution Systems. Today the airlines load up fares about every 4-6 hours, daily.
AAFrequentFlyer is offline  
Old Oct 17th, 2008, 11:25 AM
  #8  
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 148
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Wed aftr 1 pm,Ck out Best Travel store ,As long as you can give them 3 months before you fly the prices there are the best i have found.
Venezia123 is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
beckonbecky
Europe
13
Jan 15th, 2007 12:38 PM
neexp
United States
28
Nov 1st, 2006 01:50 PM
BarryK
Air Travel
5
Mar 13th, 2006 12:06 PM
millie
United States
7
Jun 5th, 2003 03:24 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -