The Best Day to Buy Airline Tickets

WSJ Original Article: The Best Day to Buy Airline Tickets - The Prime Time to Find Airfares Has Changed; How Early Does the Lowest Price Pop Up?

Summary

• Your odds improve if you buy on the weekend.
• Sunday is the best day to find low fares. This is a departure from the conventional wisdom of recent years, when Tuesday was considered the best bet.
• When searching for the lowest fare, don’t give up on Tuesdays. It’s the day with the most frequent price drops, leaving the door open for good deals.
• 21% of the price drops it has recorded happened on Tuesday and 19% on Wednesday
• The lowest prices for domestic tickets (is) at 42 days before departure
  • The average purchase date was just over one month before departure. By then prices have started their climb.
  • The best time to buy for Thanksgiving was Oct. 10. The sweet spot for Christmas was even earlier, Oct. 8.
• International ticket prices didn’t fluctuate much between 10 months and three months before departure.