How to Find the Best Deals on Flights
JAN. 30, 2015
By ELAINE GLUSAC, NY Times
The popular search site Kayak.com handles more than one billion travel booking searches annually, primarily for airfare and hotels.
Poring over that data, its analysts recently produced a statistical survey that reveals the best days to fly to get the lowest prices, recommended flight booking windows and biggest price drops, among other insights. The annual report, called Kayak 2015 Travel Hacker Guide, will be posted as a resource to travelers at the site.
Although Kayak won’t disclose its user demographics, David Solomito, director of brand marketing for the 10-year-old Connecticut-based website, said users are “people who aspire to be smarter travelers.” He interpreted the website’s user data report in a recent interview.
Q. Any tips to share, based on the data, on how consumers can save on flights?
A. I always say, if you find a deal that’s right for you, go ahead and book it as there are a lot of variables that affect prices. Fuel price is a big one. The number of routes and direct flights affect prices. If JetBlue adds a new route to Hartford, which it did this year, that would affect prices. Possibly even big events like the World Cup. But for North America, the ideal booking window within the United States and Canada is four to six weeks in advance of a trip. The lowest fares depart Friday and return on Monday.
The report recommends booking flights to Europe six months ahead. What about spontaneous trips?
Another insight was that the Caribbean, unlike Europe, has the shorter window for finding the lowest airfare. It’s just two to four weeks out.