When Is the Best Time to Fly?

For most individuals, the best time to fly is whenever they prefer. However, if you are traveling on a limited budget, your preferences may be unable to dictate when you travel. Instead, you may need to find the best deals on airfare. So, when is it the cheapest to fly?In the off-season. If you are traveling to a popular vacation destination, such as Orlando, Florida, or Denver, Colorado, expect to pay more during peak tourist months. During the winter, tourists flock to Colorado to enjoy some of the best skiing in the United States. Airlines know this, so they charge high fares. On the other hand, Colorado isn’t so popular in the summertime, as there is no snow. It is harder to fill flights to Denver, so the airlines offer deals and discounts. If you can, without ruining your trip, fly in the off-season. You could save $100 on your airfare alone. Moreover, since it is the off-season, you should receive a discount on your car rental and hotel too.

In the early morning or afternoon hours. Usually, airlines have early morning flights departing at five or six in the morning. Rarely are these flights booked solid. After all, who wants to get up that early to start a long day’s journey? If you want to save money, you should. Remember, airlines offer discounts to fill flights. You are more likely to get a discount on a 6 am flight than you are on a 9 am flight. Afternoon flights are also a wise choice. Vacationers usually want to fly in the morning or at night. Some feel they waste a vacation day by departing in the afternoon, so these flights are usually less full too, meaning discounts.

Not during the holidays. One of the most expensive times to travel by air is for the holidays. We want to spend time with our family, especially long-distance family members. Unfortunately, airlines know this and they try to capitalize on it. If you were to fly home to visit your family in the middle of July, as opposed to two days before Christmas or Thanksgiving, your airfare could be hundreds of dollars cheaper.

At least three days before a holiday. As previously stated, people want to fly home to visit family during the holidays and they do, no matter what the costs. To save money, do not fly the day or two before a holiday, like Christmas. These are peak travel dates; they are when most passengers are trying to get home for the holidays. Your flight will still be expensive, but you may save $50 or more by spending an extra three days with your family.

On Wednesdays and Saturdays. When it comes to the best days to travel, Wednesdays and Saturdays are your best option. Mondays and Fridays are the most expensive. Why? People traveling for weekend getaways usually fly on Fridays. People traveling for business tend to fly on Mondays. They are the airlines’ two most profitable flying days, so avoid them. By flying on Saturday, you miss most of the weekend warriors; remember they flew on Friday.

In short, when you travel does influence your ability to save money. If you can be flexible the next time you fly, do it. You may save hundreds of dollars on airfare alone.