WHEN SHOULD YOU BUY TICKETS?
Timing is everything (or close to it) in getting a good fare.
Tip: For the lowest rates, fly on Tuesday or Saturday.
According to the airfare prediction app Hopper, these are low-load – meaning the cheapest – days to fly. Flying on Friday boosts fares by an average of 20 percent.
Fares also fluctuate based on the destination and whether it’s a business or leisure choice. Popular business routes tend to change less and can be booked three months before departure, but fares for leisure destinations tend to start high and then dip before skyrocketing right before departure. Get these about a month in advance.
Tip: Be an early bird and take the first flight out.
“Later in the day, anything that’s gone wrong due to mechanics or weather delays stack up and make it harder to make up time, so the likelihood of having a problem later in the day is greater,” said Gary Leff, author of the blog "View From the Wing."
FINDING THE BEST FARES
The Internet has made everyone a travel agent. That transparency has been good for bargain seekers, but the trade-off is the time investment required.
“Watch fares for a little while on the route and learn what normal is,” said Mr. Leff. “Look at different times of the year and over the course of a couple weeks and see how things change.”
Here are some websites that will help you find deals:
- Kayak.com tracks fares you search and advises whether you should buy right away or wait based on the likelihood of future fluctuation.
- Airfarewatchdog.com posts the best deals from your hometown airport daily.
- Hipmunk.com searches fares and suggests date shifts for better pricing.
- Skyscanner.com lists search results by “best,” “cheapest” and “fastest.”
- Other popular online sites include Momondo, Fareness and Google Flights.
Tip: Do your flight searching during the week.
Airlines know most fliers search for leisure travel on the weekends and boost costs accordingly — $9 on average on domestic flights and $10 on international, according to Hopper.
For holiday travel — including Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s and Fourth of July — book earlier or look to sites devoted to deals. If your plans are flexible, fly when others aren’t and fares are lowest. George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog, suggests considering these options:
- Summer: “After August 15, travel goes down because most kids go back to school,” he said.
- Late in the year: “The period just after Thanksgiving to mid-December, fares go down between the holidays.”
- Winter: “After New Year’s Day to mid-February, fares go way down.”
Tip: Once you find a fare you like, don’t rush to purchase it.
Hopper found that two out of three ticket prices will drop within 24 hours of an original search with an average savings of 14 percent.
COMPARING FARES
Not all fares are structured equally. Some have more inclusions, like checked bags; others force you to pay for those perks. Here’s what to expect from the following categories of airlines:
Legacy carriers are the major airlines with extensive route maps. In the United States, that means American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines. Most of their tickets include the ability to carry on two pieces of luggage – a personal item that stows underneath the seat in front of you and an item in the overhead bin – and to book your seats in advance.
- CAVEAT: Be aware that most legacy carriers have a rock-bottom basic economy rate that bars the use of overhead bin space and doesn’t allow seat assignments in advance.
Low-cost carriers are no-frills airlines including Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Spirit Airlines. They also include international carriers WOW Air and Norwegian Air Shuttle. Generally, every option, from checking bags to choosing a seat, costs extra on these carriers, so factor those fees into your calculation when comparing airfares.
- CAVEAT: Southwest does not charge for checked bags and has an open seating policy. You can pay extra, however, to board earlier and get a better seat.
Foreign carriers that service the United States such as British Airways, Lufthansa, KLMand Latam usually provide free meals on international flights and allow fliers to check a bag for free.
- CAVEAT: Most of the major carriers still make long-haul flights comfortable with supplied food and seat-back screens for entertainment, but it pays to check the inclusions before you book.
Both foreign and domestic carriers are adding Premium Economy, a newer category of service between Economy and Business classes providing better and slightly more spacious seats.
Bear in mind the frequency an airline flies to your destination when evaluating competing fares. “Legacy carriers offer more value compared to the Frontiers and Spirits at same price,” said Mr. Hobica. “Even at basic economy, legacy carriers still offer better value because you do get inflight entertainment and more frequencies so if something goes wrong, you’ll probably get on the next flight whereas low-cost carriers may fly once a day.”
PICKING THE BEST SEAT
Having a seat assignment is critical to ensuring you will fly when you are expecting to. Passengers without a seat assignment are the first to be bumped.
While booking online, airlines will show plane maps with available seats. Unless you have frequent flier status with an airline, you will likely have to pay to choose economy seats:
- Toward the front of the plane, which means you deplane sooner
- Bulk head seats, which are the front row in economy and usually offer more legroom
- Exit rows, which have extra legroom
“Think of it like a sports event or theater,” Mr. Hobica said. “Better seats cost more.”
Tip: Consult SeatGuru.com, which shows plane configurations and identifies seats that are more desirable and least desirable (i.e., near the bathrooms).
EVALUATING YOUR ROUTE
Always include secondary airports in your route search. New York has LaGuardia and Kennedy airports, of course, but those in Newark and Westchester are also accessible. Washington D.C. has two airports plus Baltimore in proximate distance.
Consider the pros and cons of secondary airports:
PROS: Smaller airports mean closer gates, shorter security lines and better parking.
CONS: They have limited flights and some lack expedited PreCheck security lines.
When suggesting routes, airlines program in connection times that allow fliers to arrive in time at the connecting airport. But delays can foul the plan, and missed connections means rebooking. That’s easier for frequent fliers, who jump up in line on the priority list of those the airline serves first. Others may want to consider longer connection times.
“Airlines like short connections and people like to book the shortest trips possible, but I like longer connections for infrequent travelers,” said Mr. Leff. “I like to assume I might have a 30-to-45-minute delay on the first flight. Since you still want to make that connection, I like 90-minute connections for infrequent flyers.”
GETTING, AND USING, AIRLINE MILES
Accruing and using frequent flier miles can be a science. Brian Kelly, also known as the Points Guy, offers a guide to flight mile evaluations on his blog. Most fall between .02 cents and .01 cents per mile. Using the average of .015 cents per mile will help you calculate whether the mileage being charged is commensurate to paying cash. See this example.
Will airline-affiliated credit cards provide any perks?
Yes. Most airline-linked credit cards guarantee a free checked bag for you and your traveling companion, assuming you used that credit card to pay for the booking. It also allows you to board earlier, allowing earlier access to overhead bin space and increasing the likelihood that you won’t have to check a bag. Most of these cards carry a $95 annual fee, which consumers can earn back in a flight or two.
“They can make sense if the perks outweigh the annual fee,” said Mr. Kelly. He prefers other cards for amassing and spending points but keeps his airline cards for the bag perks. “The early boarding can make the average experience, which is dismal, a little better.”
WIRECUTTER REVIEW
The Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards
We did the math on six of the most popular travel rewards cards to find out which spenders will get the most from which cards.
PLAN AHEAD TO ENSURE AIRPORT SECURITY IS QUICK AND PAINLESS
Depending on how frequently you fly, applying for T.S.A. PreCheck can be the cheapest way to avoid aggravation at the airport. The process involves an online application, an in-person interview, fingerprinting and an $85 fee. Once an applicant is cleared, PreCheck status is good for five years and provides access to special security lanes that do not require removing laptops, toiletries, light jackets and most shoes.
In March, the agency said 93 percent of travelers with the status waited less than five minutes to clear security.
“Not only are the lines faster and shorter, but you don’t have to remove things from your bag,” said Mr. Hobica. “That lessens the chance of leaving something behind or having it stolen. It’s much more secure.”
Tip: Several credit card companies cover the PreCheck application fee when you open a new account.
For those who travel internationally, Global Entry, a program from the United States Customs and Border Protection agency, expedites reentry into the United States. The fee for the five-year term is $100 and automatically confers PreCheck status on accepted applicants.
