This article from the Washington Post (gifted link below) gives some good tips for finding less-expensive flights this year. Some of them I knew, but some were new to me. I liked the article and thought it was informative.
https://wapo.st/3vGe9Lp
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I read it, nothing new to me in that article.
Just curious, when you wrote "some were new to me" what were you talking about?
I understand that a lot of this not new to seasoned travelers, Jojo, but that doesn't mean it won't help someone else; especially newer travelers. And my comment meant exactly what it said--some of it is new to me. Not necessary the main points but some of the details.
Thanks Mardee, I learned some things I didn’t know.
-Thanksgiving week is good for international bookings
-signing up for price alerts from Google or others, even if you don’t book directly through them, it could prompt you to check your airline’s flight.
-you can be caught by the airlines for skiplagging (not that I’ve tried it).
I can attest that flying internationally at Thanksgiving is cheap !! I did it again this past Thanksgiving.
Pastelholic, glad you didn't try skiplagging! There was a post here about 6 months ago about a guy who did it, and was penalized and banned from the airline for life. It's not worth it.
Kim, very good to know! I was wondering about that - I might try that sometime.
Thanksgiving week is the secret cheapest week of the entire year for flights abroad.
The writing is a little ambiguous, I read it to say that buying a ticket Thanksgiving week (for travel the following year) is cheaper. But my reading is wrong I can see now. Incidentally I have found great overseas flight prices during this time (for travel the following year).
Honestly, the advice to buy international tickets 2 to 8 months in advance to get a good price is pretty useless, that's most of the time the ticket is for sale (6 of the 11 months). I have read that before.
Edit: Actually avoiding buying a ticket the first month or 2 that tickets are offered, and the last 2 months before the flight is sound advice, those are the times when costs are highest. Finding the low price sweet spot in the 2-8 months though is the real trick.
Not only is flying internationally cheap over Thanksgiving, but oh the "Black Friday" sales. We've started spending late November in Paris annually (and I fly over with an empty duffel bag and back with a full one).
The conventional wisdom is prices are sky rocketing and you have to buy a year in advance for the best fare. None of the surveys agree.
AbbyO, I love that idea!!
Mardee,
Re: skiplagging-only recently did I even learn what that term meant. We are always flying from BTV (VT) to a hub somewhere (usually NYC) that has a direct flight to our destination. It would never occur to me to try something underhanded like that. Not my style. Flying is expensive, yes, and things like skiplagging cost the airlines money and they pass along those costs to the consumer. So whoever is skiplagging could just be helping to drive up costs.
I like the idea of international travel for Thanksgiving week-glad you confirmed that, Kim.
Oh…. Going to Paris with an empty bag! Now that is a great tip
I usually book 8-9 months in advance and I get pretty cheap rates. I almost always book through travel agencies so I get discounts on top of that and in case I want to cancel and re-book at a different price or a change of plan, they handle all the procedures and I don't have to waste my time and energy.
Flying is expensive, yes, and things like skiplagging cost the airlines money and they pass along those costs to the consumer. So whoever is skiplagging could just be helping to drive up costs.
Cost is a tough thing to quantify in this case. It is more a person taking advantage of promotional fares. While I do not partake in skiplagging, nor would, you do run into inane pricing from time to time.
A good example, I live in Iowa and we planned a family vacation with adult children in the Yucatan a few years back. We found a great deal to fly from Iowa to Minneapolis to Cancun, a few hundred. My Daughter, who lives in Minneapolis tried to book the same Minneapolis-Cancun flight the same day we booked, but for her, with one fewer leg, it was twice the price. She did find a cheap ticket, similar in price to ours, but she had to fly Minneapolis to Detroit, then to Cancun. Much the same on return.
It is hard to imagine that flying fewer miles and fewer flights costs the airlines "more", it is purely market driven pricing...want a direct flight? pay for the convenience.
Thank you, Mardee.
If anyone wants a first-hand idea of how futile most of the advice of when to buy your ticket is, then set up google to track a flight about 10 months from now. They will send you an update when the price changes and give you a graph showing the changes. You will be amazed.
