Best Day and Time to Book Flights for the Cheapest Airfare – Forbes Advisor

When it comes to travel budgets, every little bit helps but a few methods could supercharge your savings to whole new heights.

Travel Off-Peak

Everyone wants to go to Florida over spring break, to visit family for Thanksgiving and to explore Europe over the summer, meaning these popular flights will be attached to premium prices.

Traveling when the crowds aren’t, if you’re able, can help you lock in a better price. For example, flights for beach vacations are cheaper in January than in March, yet just as fun. The shoulder season of September and October can be a more affordable time to fly than over summer when school’s out in June and July. For holidays, shifting your travel by a day or two can also help you find off-peak pricing.

Off-peak can be more subtle, too. Taking the first or last flight of the day could be cheaper. Choosing less popular, alternate airports like Baltimore/Washington International (BWI) instead of Washington Reagan (DCA) or accepting a connecting itinerary instead of a nonstop flight could save you a ton.

Track Flight Prices

Airfare price tracking no longer requires you to manually recheck costs on your own—multiple websites will do this for you. Search tools like Google Flights, Kayak.com and Skyscanner use algorithms to compare current prices to past trends to estimate when it’s a good time to buy. You can also set up price alerts so you’re notified by email if or when prices change.

Some tools allow you to get very specific with your price tracking (for example, limiting results to nonstop flights, specific airlines or certain times of day) while others will track all prices for all flights on your route and date.

Learn more about how to use Google Flights to find cheap airfare.

Look for Opportunities To Rebook If the Price Drops

Most U.S. airlines have eliminated change fees on standard economy tickets and higher. That means you can book early and rebook at a cheaper rate if your price drops.

To take advantage of this strategy, book a flight as soon as you find one that’s acceptable to you. Then, track flight prices. If the fare drops, you can cancel your ticket and rebook at the lower price to lock in the savings.

This is an expert-level strategy, so there are a few things to keep in mind before trying this:

1. Basic economy tickets aren’t eligible for changes or cancellations, so double-check the fare class before you press the buy button. You’ll need to buy a more expensive Economy fare if you think you’ll want to change it in the future.
2. Savings from price drops are issued in vouchers. You won’t get a refund on your credit card. Instead, you’ll get a voucher for future use with the airline. You’ll need to watch out for expiration dates (and be aware that the expiration might coincide with the last day you can travel vs. the last day you can book).
3. There’s no guarantee that prices will drop. You might get lucky with a price drop and a voucher, but you also might never see a decrease in price. It’s better to assume what you paid is the final cost of your ticket and perhaps be pleasantly surprised later.

Subscribe To Flight Deal Services

Often, the absolute cheapest airfares are the ones you’re not seeking. If you’re flexible with when and where you travel, subscribing to a flight deal service will alert you anytime there’s a killer deal from your preferred departure airport(s).

These can be bargain-basement fares of 50% off—mistake fares may save you even more—but this requires you to be open-minded about how you book a trip. Instead of settling on a destination and then looking for a good price, you’ll peruse through deals and see if any catch your eye. The deal determines the destination.

Some subscription services include:

• Daily Drop Pro
• Dollar Flight Club
• Fare Deal Alert
• Going (Formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights)
• Secret Flying
• The Flight Deal
• Thrifty Traveler Premium