Best Time to Book a Flight

Those who have gone through the experience of booking flights at the last minute, know how expensive airline tickets can be. People keep wondering what is the best time to book a flight that ensures a reasonable ticket price and easy availability. I discovered that this is the most discussed issue on air travel related forums worldwide. That's when I decided to investigate this matter further and present some air travel tips on booking flights. You will find all the wisdom I gained about the best time to book a flight, shared in the following lines.

With the territorial expanse of USA, road travel is certainly not a viable option when time is of essence. Going for domestic flights is your only option. Domestic and international air travel has constantly been on the rise during the past few years. There are many private airline companies for you to choose from, when booking your air tickets. One thing that you need to understand is that the price and availability of an airline ticket is a function of time. You cannot expect the flight ticket price to be the same at all times. The price keeps fluctuating as you know. In the next section, let us see when is the best time to book flight tickets by attacking the question head on.

When is the Best Time to Book a Flight?

For people who literally travel out of the suitcase, like George Clooney's character Ryan Bingham, in 'Up in the Air', (who goes around the country firing people), it is important to know the best time to book an airline flight. Such people cannot afford a delay in their travel schedules as there are things to be taken care of and businesses to be managed. Considering that a large people are curious about the right timing to book a flight, an economist, Makoto Watanabe, along with his colleagues, explored this question in great detail. What they found out was that the best time to book a flight is about 8 weeks in advance. Also, it is more likely that you will find cheap airline tickets around afternoon time!

Most people leave the job of booking flights right up till the last week, when bookings charts are already picking up fast. By the last hours, most of the economy and business class tickets are taken up already and you may have no option left other than buying a first-class ticket!

What can you do to avoid such a situation? The key is to make your travel plans well in advance. Just as early birds catch the worm, so do people who book flights well in advance, land up with tickets at reasonable prices. Check out the flight timings on sites like Travelocity and Expedia that offer online booking options. You can also track a flight online. Check out for the cheapest air fare quotes provided on such websites. Airlines provide discounts on online booking made in advance.

Other than that, a weekday booking is bound to cost lesser than those on weekends. So the best time to book flights online is more than six to seven weeks in advance and the best day to book a flight is probably a weekday afternoon!

To conclude, I would say that the best time to book a flight is 'as soon as possible' or 'as early as possible'! A booking made several weeks in advance will ensure reasonable prices for you. The more you delay, lesser is going to be the probability of booking a flight at a reasonable price! A wise man once said, 'Time, tide and flight bookings wait for no man!'. Remember that and plan your travel schedule in advance to get the most airline flight booking at the most reasonable prices.