If you’ve always thought that Tuesday was the best day of the week to book a cheap flight, think again!
The lowest average ticket price is generally found on Sunday for both economy and premium fares, according to the ARC 2019 Air Travel Outlook Report.
The study is a collaboration between Expedia and the Airlines Reporting Corporation.
Tuesday is NOT always the best day to buy a cheap airline ticket
Although it’s impossible to guarantee when travelers will find the lowest fares, the data scientists at ARC and Expedia used trends to identity the best times to book a trip.
Here’s a summary of the key findings to help you save money:
Search for low fares on the weekend: The cheapest fares for economy and premium cabin travel are booked on a Sunday. The most expensive tickets tend to be booked on Thursdays and Fridays.
It pays to book your flight early: For most economy and premium air travel, booking at least three weeks in advance often results in cheaper fares.
Be flexible with your departure date: According to global trends, Thursday and Friday are the cheapest departure days for most economy and premium cabin travel. This can save travelers around 10% on airfares.
Clark Howard’s travel tips
If you’ve been following money expert Clark Howard for a while, you know that his #1 rule of cheap travel is to buy a deal first and then figure out why you want to go there.
That’s why Clark likes to use Kayak Explore to see a map of where the best deals are!
“The more flexible you are and the more spontaneous you are about where you go, the more money you’re going to save,” Clark says.
Not flexible with the destination or dates? In that case, track prices frequently using Google Flights and Southwest.com.
“If you’re really cheap, you try every day of the week and write down the price each day you check,” Clark says. “Learn the pattern and you’ll know when you’ve found your deal.”
Fares tend to be at their lowest about six weeks out from travel, according to Clark.
One thing to keep in mind: Pay close attention any time you’re doing a fare search and looking at one of the three full-fare airlines. The cheap fare you see may be a gotcha!
Read Clark’s warning about American, Delta and United’s cheap basic economy fares.
Finally, have you heard about Scott’s Cheap Flights? You can sign up for either a free or paid subscription and have cheap international flight deals delivered to your inbox all the time.
We also post the latest travel deals throughout the week on ClarkDeals.com!
More Clark.com stories you may like:
- Travel booking and planning guide
- Use this packing trick to avoid a checked bag fee
- Basic economy fares: Delta vs. American vs. United
