Haven't played with this yet, but will be interesting.
When I found our great business class fare about six weeks ago, on my own lucky search, the Google Alerts didn't notify me until the next day.
Good luck!
Posted by
Brooklyn, NY
4228 posts
It was on the local morning news show today. Not much info though, just a blurb
Posted by
Virginia
850 posts
There's a similar thread going on the topic from yesterday morning over on the Transportation forum -- https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/transportation/google-says-when-to-book-your-flight
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
Everyone already knows the cheapest time to book: 24 hours after you book. ;-)
Posted by
OP
San Diego, California
5528 posts
Andrew, lol!
Posted by
Dana Point
1208 posts
Andrew's answer is probably as close as what Google is going to give you.
The airlines themselves are still trying to retune their revenue management algorithms post Covid. Their golden egg--business travel--isn't expected to recover for years (link below.) To me, this means prices will be more volatile until the airlines have enough data to truly maximize their revenue. It also means that me and the other folks on this forum--people travelling on vacations--will be footing a greater percentage of the airlines overall "bill."
Posted by
Idaho, USA
7754 posts
Andrew H, whew, that’s the reason why I avoid looking at it afterwards. I just purchased ticket’s yesterday that were each $500 less than they were a few days earlier. I’m happy & no more looking! : )
Posted by
Fort Myers, FL
1864 posts
Just like after you sell stock. Never look again, you will always be disappointed.
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9436 posts
Last Friday, August 25, i was on Google Flights, ready to buy tickets that day. Message said “The cheapest time to book is usually later, Aug 29 - Nov 27”.
So i waited
Posted by
OP
San Diego, California
5528 posts
Susan, please report back! 🙂
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
7832 posts
Susan, I got the same message when I was looking for flights going from MSP to Fort Myers. It told me to check back in October.
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9436 posts
I have to coordinate with my son to buy tickets, we were ready last Friday but now he’s on a camping trip so we’ll try again next week. But it begs the question when they say Aug 29 - Nov 27, do we wait til November? I know it’s all a gamble and no one knows…
Posted by
Berlin
2959 posts
Google provides mostly solutions to problems you did not have before.
In this case they show lower prices to prices which were made more expensive for you by your search behavior.
The best trick for cheap prices is to stay away from using any Facebook, Twitter, other social media and/or Google search solutions. Try to stay as anonymous as you can - especially delete cookies after each session and use anonymous browser modes. Comments on social media about travel targets and also tracked behaviour for travelling can lead to prices up to 30% above average for the same (!) product or service.