Budget Travel - Best Day to Travel

Okay, I've got a brain cramp, remind me . . . for low-fare travel, which days of the week are generally the best days to travel?

Okay, I've got a brain cramp, remind me . . . for low-fare travel, which days of the week are generally the best days to travel?

3 weeks from tomorrow.

Is staying on a Saturday still advantageous?
I really don't know the rules of this game anymore!

It depends on where you're going. I've noticed huge drops in prices on Saturday nights for business destinations.

OT When is the best day of the week to buy fresh salmon?

I have had the best luck with TUE and WED.

I have had the best luck with TUE and WED.


SWA rocks.

OT When is the best day of the week to buy fresh salmon?

3 weeks from tomorrow. :eek:

3 weeks from tomorrow.

TVM. I wasn't sure if the general rule was 21 or 14 or 7 days advanced purchase. :cool:

TVM. I wasn't sure if the general rule was 21 or 14 or 7 days advanced purchase. :cool:

Well, of course, the walk-up price for salmon is much more than the APEX fares.

OT When is the best day of the week to buy fresh salmon?

What's that got to do with the price of fish? :p

What's that got to do with the price of fish? :p If you want to buy cheap salmon check your local supermarket discount rack!

OK boys and girls, let's keep it on topic or we'll be deleting posts and / or closing threads.

EmailKid
Budget Travel Moderator

OK boys and girls, let's keep it on topic or we'll be deleting posts and / or closing threads.

EmailKid
Budget Travel Moderator

...so, yeah, meanwhile, back at the topic.....when you look up farecompare.com, farecast.com, etc. you'll see the dates the cheapest fares are available. Or, when you start exploring some great sale fares on your airline's website, check the "restrictions" link. Yeah, it seems mid-week is "usually" lower, with Saturday stays usually lower as well...but who knows these days. And, yeah, certain "seasons" are lower for certain markets---winter always seems to be lower for Europe, for example. But, then there's always the funky "I can't believe it's THIS cheap!" fare that comes along that throws ALL of that out the window.

traveling on the holiday (i.e. 12/25; 1/1) is often cheaper than dates before and after the holiday

traveling on the holiday (i.e. 12/25; 1/1) is often cheaper than dates before and after the holiday

.... But, then there's always the funky "I can't believe it's THIS cheap!" fare that comes along that throws ALL of that out the window.

Yes, you are both right. Of course it also depends on where you want to fly. In US (and often US based carriers on int'l destinations) the cheapest fares tend to be Tue/Wed/Thu and sometimes Sat (even Fri/Mon on occasion), because the cheap fares tend to be purchased by travelers looking for low fares for leisure trips that would maximaze their vactions, be it "long weekend" or a weeklong vacation, hence Fri/Sun are almost never the cheapest days to travel. Of course the fares only go up by $25 or 50 per day for "weekend" travel, which is not a big difference on a $700 fare, but a huge difference on a $250 fare.

I know, in my previous life when I had a lot of time on my hands for cyberloafing I used to check fares and Mileage Run for mistake fares several times a day (now I'm content with patroling Budget Travel as a Mod and checking fares at the end of the day as a regular FT member :( ).

Not really that familiar with European carriers, but a lot of Asian and Latin American airlines will sell cheap seats at the last minute to get rid of unsold seats, but of course it helps to speak the language or to book travel via a localy based TA specializing in travel to what used to be their home country.

It's been my experience that while US based carriers will usually give you the best price online (except those consolidator fares that do not earn miles and are NOT subject to the "low price guarantee"), many foreign airlines offer lower prices via TA that tend to serve a population that only flies to the country of the said airline's destination.

Then you luck into fares like CO's one day sale to Rio a few years back, where the all in price was $538 for r/t (did I mention I had a $500 bump voucher when I booked this :D ) or TACA's one day sale on IAH-SAL route for $138 all in ^

And of course the mistake fares you see once in a while that I for one haven't been able to book so far :(

EmailKid

Sometimes you just never know...
Last fall, looking for a getaway to the UK, found that flying to Helsinki was nearly $100 cheaper, no UK taxes/fees/luxury-tax-for-upgrade-clearing stuff, earned 4,000 more miles, got to fly Finnair (and airline you just don't hear a lot about...yet had an awesome experience with) and saw a city I wasn't planning on seeing but will eagerly go to again.

This summer, was going to go to Lima, but found Buenos Aires to be the same base fare, a LOT more miles, a more comfortable ride (777 vs. 757).

Earlier this year, looking for a long weekend in Germany, was cheaper to book an AA codeshare onward into Germany rather than just to Frankfurt.

"Dates flexible" options help. Checking "all day" vs. certain times of the day helps.

Like a lot of great things in life, sometimes they just "seem" to come your way when you're not looking, or you're set on one thing and something else comes along that you realize is a lot better (...hmm...that's certainly true for the love life, but alas I digress)

traveling on the holiday (i.e. 12/25; 1/1) is often cheaper than dates before and after the holiday"Often" is the operative word. In years past it was almost always the case that travel on the actual day of the holiday was cheap. Now though, many carriers are cutting schedules on those dates instead of cutting fares.