Christmas is right around the corner and then New Year’s follows suit. Some people like to book and arrange travel months in advance (if my wife had it her way we would purchase all airline tickets at least a year in advance if possible), while others prefer to wait till last minute in hopes of big deals on undersold flights. There are some travel tips I can impart that might be common knowledge to most but still worth sharing.
Never buy a flight less then two weeks out from the date of departure.
While it might be possible to negotiate cheap fares on a same day flight directly with the airline in some situations, in general the closer it is to the departure date the more expensive it gets. Airlines have to fill the plane with the same amount of fuel regardless of how many seats have been filled. As a result if a flight has a lot of free seats a couple hours before take-off they might be willing to cut a deal, but beware because the airlines know there are people trying to bank on cancelations and no shows. As a result 14 days out tends to be the magic number where prices start to increase unreasonably.
I know that sometimes things happen beyond our control and the 14 day rule has to be busted. My recommendation in that case is that you be open to shopping around fares on various airlines. You might have an extended journey as a result but mixing and matching flights might save you a lot of money.
Avoid buying flights too early.
I know what you are thinking; first I said to not buy too late and now I’m saying to not buy too early. Yes, to get the best price studies have shown you have to go somewhere in between. 56-57 days in advance seems to be the sweet spot. I once assumed that buying as early as possible would be the best way to go; similar to how companies sometimes give discounts or bonuses for early buy-ins or preorders. The problem with that thinking is that since airlines do not always know how popular a flight will be they inflate the price in the beginning.
If you do make a mistake and buy too early at an inflated price make sure to read over the terms of purchase. Then follow the fair over time. Most airlines will allow you to cancel the flight and apply the credit to another fare. There is usually a change fee associated with the act but sometimes it is worth it. Once I had made a mistake and purchased a vacation flight well in advance at a fare of $1000 only to find out a month later that there were now seats for around $400. I was able to get the cheaper fare at the cost of a $150 change fee but the savings were still significant.
Do not ignore other forms of travel.
There is nothing wrong with taking a cheap flight that gets you 50% – 75% of the way to your destination and taking a rental car the rest of the way. If you were planning on getting one anyway you might be able to work it into your travel package and incur some major savings.
