5 Proven Methods for Finding Affordable Airline Tickets

To provide a well-founded analysis, we've diligently examined and compared airfare prices based on user searches from tripmydream over the past two years. The results have revealed that airfare pricing is far more intricate than one might assume.

First and foremost, it's crucial to understand that airline pricing is highly automated and extends well beyond conventional factors like the day of the week or the time until departure. Most significantly, pricing is heavily influenced by the demand for a specific flight. In essence, if tickets are selling briskly, the price tends to increase, whereas it decreases when sales are slow. Equally significant is the competitive landscape: when multiple airlines serve a route (three or more), prices are typically more competitive. Nonetheless, we've uncovered some intriguing patterns along the way.

Rule #1: Is Booking in Advance Worth It?

Time to departure has a pretty specific impact on ticket prices, and each airline's cheapest periods are different. For example, if a carrier needs money for operations here and now, it may announce a sale even for a departure period of up to a year or simply extend the period for which the cheapest tickets are offered. As a rule, buying 2-3 months before departure allows you to find the best prices.

For example, Lufthansa, one of the most popular European airlines, typically uses the following pricing model:

1. Early booking (300-180 days before departure): Lufthansa usually offers attractive prices for this period, especially for popular destinations. However, unlike low-cost carriers, these prices are not always the lowest.
2. Medium period (180-60 days before departure): this is often the period when the best deals can be found. Lufthansa balances between attracting early bookings and expecting demand to increase closer to the departure date.
3. Nearest period (60-14 days before departure): prices start to rise, especially on popular routes and in high season.
4. Last moment (less than 14 days before departure): prices usually peak, unless the airline is holding a sale to fill empty seats.

Thus, there is no single "cheapest ticket" model for Lufthansa. The price depends on many factors, including route, season and type of travel. But in general, booking 2-4 months before departure often allows you to find the best price and choice of dates. and others.

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For low-cost carriers, the cheapest periods are roughly the same:

• For Ryanair it is 75-150 days before departure (price about 20% lower than average).
• For Wizz Air the situation is similar, but in the period of 75-100 days prior to departure the prices drop even more significantly - approximately 2 times the average price.

All low-cost carriers have the most expensive tickets on Sunday (15-20% more expensive than the average price) and the cheapest tickets on Tuesday and Wednesday (15-20% cheaper). Flying on Friday and Saturday will cost you 5-10% more. Although, for example, at Ernest Airlines, the difference between days of the week varies only within 5%.

The above-mentioned flight direction implies a difference in demand in finding a route from point A to point B and vice versa - from point B to point A. For example, on the Warsaw - Milan route, approximately 80% of travelers book tickets with the first segment from Warsaw to Milan and return to Warsaw. Accordingly, the same two-day trip Friday-Sunday Warsaw - Milan - Warsaw will cost you on average about 5% more than the same trip on the route Milan - Warsaw - Milan. Similarly, tickets Warsaw - Milan - Warsaw from Sunday to Saturday will also be about 5% cheaper than tickets for the same dates Milan - Warsaw - Milan.

Rule #3. High and low season

For scheduled and low-cost airlines, this translates more into changes in the schedule of the flight program in winter and summer than into changes in prices. Usually airlines have a winter schedule from the end of October to the end of March and a summer schedule from the end of March to the end of October. And the frequency of flights to certain destinations can vary significantly. This balances the demand and price for all destinations, but still sometimes prices in the high season can differ many times, especially for popular destinations.

High season is summer vacation (June - August), Christmas and New Year (mid-December - early January), Easter vacations (March or April). During these periods, there is a good chance that tickets are optimally inexpensive if purchased 3-5 months in advance.

Low season is the period from mid-January to early March (excluding winter vacations), mid-April to mid-June, and September to mid-December (excluding fall vacations). During these periods, airfares are usually more affordable and it is possible to find good deals even if you book 1-2 months before departure.

Rule #4. When should you look for tickets?

Now, let's dive into some surprises. Imagine you were searching for tickets during your lunch break at work, found something interesting, and then came home in the evening to look again and make the purchase. Well, I have to disappoint you - statistically, during this time, ticket prices tend to go up. And don't even think about booking tickets at night. Paradoxically, from midnight to 7 am, the average price of airfare is 1% higher. While a 1% difference might not seem significant, it's essential to note that the fluctuations in ticket prices during the day are not as influenced by the time of day as they are by factors like booking on different days. However, based on our extensive data analysis, searching for tickets at night is unlikely to benefit you, but it could lead to overpaying.

The most favorable times to search are typically from 8 to 12 and from 14 to 18 hours on weekdays. Interestingly, ticket prices during the day on weekends tend to remain relatively stable.

Rule #5. What is the best device to search and book from?

It's no secret that many websites have learned to analyze customer behavior and personalize the content they provide. This applies not only to airline tickets but is particularly noticeable when it comes to ticket bookings.

Depending on the device you're using, your location, and your past purchase history on a website, your search results for airline tickets can vary. Users of iPhones/iPads, individuals from high-income countries, and frequent website users are more likely to experience these variations. To test this theory, you can always use incognito mode in your browser or a VPN.

It's important to mention that not all websites employ such tactics. For example, at tripmydream, we do not use user data to adjust pricing - we'll display all the best deals available.