Want To Save Money On Airline Tickets? Here Is When Experts Say Is The Best Time To Book

Traveling, like so many things these days, is not cheap. So if we want to do it — and we most definitely do — how can we find the best deals on airline tickets?

That’s what we — Raj Punjabi and Noah Michelson, the hosts of HuffPost’s “Am I Doing It Wrong?” podcast — asked HuffPost senior reporter and consummate traveler Caroline Bologna to help us figure out.

Listen to the full episode here:

“There’s this term called the ‘Goldilocks Window’ — which I’m pretty sure Scott Keyes, who founded Scott’s Cheap Flights, which is now called Going.com — coined,” Bologna told us. “[If you book] too late, we all know prices can skyrocket, but also you don’t want to book too early, because then you could be unnecessarily paying too much.”

That’s because airline ticket pricing is dynamic and changes due to demand and other factors.

“I think people who think of themselves as very type A and organized, and do things in advance, are sometimes at a disadvantage [when they take] that ethos to booking tickets,” Bologna said. “My partner takes it to the opposite extent, and books a little too last minute.”

If you want to get the best price for your ticket, Bologna says, the sweet spot for purchasing is usually going to be four to six weeks, or possibly as long as eight weeks, before domestic trips. For international travel, the window is three to five months before you want to fly.

“There are always exceptions,” Bologna warned. “Holiday season, summer travel — those are times you know are going to be crazy, so you’re going to want to book them pretty far in advance.”

Some people insist that you can get better deals by shopping on particular days, like Sundays or Tuesdays, but Bologna said the experts she’s consulted with have dismissed this