How far in advance should you book a flight to get the best deal? Thankfully, there are some ways to improve your chances of finding cheaper flights, according to experts who spend a lot of time analyzing flight data. While we can’t help too much with the luck part, we can at least try to help with the strategizing. The best time to buy airline tickets in 2021 is ultimately a combination of luck and strategy. loosening entry restrictions for vaccinated foreign visitors starting on November 8-and European nations having opened up to American travelers this past summer-travelers on both sides of the pond are now chasing the same airline seats. The lower pricing environment isn’t expected to last much longer.
“We are seeing this continue with extraordinarily low prices across the board, so knowing how to shop around will mean you get the best value possible for your next trip.” travel expert with flight tracking and booking tool Skyscanner. “Providers have been trying to keep prices low to win back vacationers in a very competitive travel marketplace,” says Mark Crossey, U.S. The pandemic, however, has dramatically changed our travel habits and with them, airfares have changed, too. These include: the route (are there are a lot of planes flying between the selected airports, or is service rather limited?), the time of year (is there a special event taking place? is it a holiday season? the prices likely won’t come down the closer you get to the travel date), and how far out it is from the time of travel.Īirline tickets typically go on sale up to a year out from the departure date, so that’s when the pricing rollercoaster begins. As a travel editor, one of the questions I get asked the most when friends or family are booking flights is: “If I wait, will the price go up or down?”Īlthough the best time to book a flight is generally one to two months out for domestic trips and eight months out for international, there are many factors that can increase (or decrease) the price of an airline ticket.