Airfare Expert: The best day to shop for airfare
I hear lots of airfare myths. A common one claims airlines hold onto a slew of dirt-cheap tickets only to unleash them all on an unsuspecting public during a very brief, super-secret window just before or after midnight each Tuesday.
Now, the facts. And none of them are a secret.
Fact No. 1: Yes, Tuesday is special - but you don't have to get up at midnight
Tuesday is the busiest day of the week for airline ticket shopping. Here's why:
• Airlines file most sales late Monday, but the public generally doesn't hear about them until Tuesday when sales are announced.
• On Tuesday morning, other airlines begin matching competitors' sale prices so they don't wind up on page ten of a shopper's airfare search query. Who bothers to look at page ten?
• By 3 p.m. ET Tuesday, this matching activity is complete and shoppers see the lowest prices from all the airlines.
• Airfare sales usually last two to three days.
Fact No. 2: Some airlines do hold tickets - but don't get too excited
Most "held reservations" are for business-class travel, and these last-minute tickets can cost four or five times as much as an economy fare, so it won't affect travelers looking for a getaway or vacation deal. Plus, the number of these held reservations is miniscule compared to all possible flight combinations that airlines quote for the next year on any given day. Another way to put it: You won't find deals this way.
Fact No. 3: Airlines are constantly changing prices
How many times does a day do all the airfare shoppers in the world search for a flight or request a price? The figure is in the billions. In theory, every search request helps recalculate airlines' cheapest inventory - for each and every itinerary - based on how well that flight is selling today, how it did yesterday or years before (this is where historical data comes into play).
That's what airlines base pricing decisions on: demand for flights and what people are willing to pay for those flights at any moment. Stories of super-secret windows supposedly unleashing a trove of bargain basement deals remain a myth.
FareCompare CEO Rick Seaney is an airline industry insider and top media air travel resource. Follow Rick (@rickseaney) and never overpay for airfare again.