5 Facts You Must Know When Booking Last-Minute Flights!

While travelling is indeed a pleasant affair, more often than not its leaves people exhausted due to the planning that goes in the background. From booking air tickets to hotels, there is a long list of tasks that needs to be accomplished in order to make your holidays a memorable one!

When it comes to travelling the biggest dilemma that anyone faces is “what is the best time to visit air ticket?” Although the web is filled with so many suggestions and advice, Smart Flyer talks about the real business. Advice that are based on facts! Booking or buying an airline ticket can be confusing and stressful task.

Nobody wants to feel like they are paying too much or missing out on cheap holidays that they can get later. Thus to answer all the queries, here is the nitty gritty, to help you sail through the difficult journey of booking tickets:

1. Never book a ticket just before the travel date- According to a survey, the number of fares that are lowest just before the travel date are very tiny. After surveying for about 3 million travel itineraries of last year, the research showed that 54 days out was about the best time to buy for domestic tickets. There were also few itineraries that were priced great the very first day they went on sale from travel. Thus, do not wait too much because waiting for too long will always result in you paying more.
2. Booking last minute ticket will be expensive- A survey shows that on average, a customer who books air ticket 0-7 days prior from the date of travel ends up paying more than $200 as compared to those who booked their tickets during the “prime booking window”. A prime booking window is approximately 3 weeks to 3.5 months from your travel dates. Thus avoid booking plane tickets at the last moment.
3. Waiting leads to less choices- By this we mean that not only you will be paying more, but you will also be the subject to less attractive flight schedules and less convenient flight timings and long connections.
4. Don`t wait for last minute sale- If you think that last minute sales can save you some huge cash then you will end up getting disappointed. These days airline prices are done by algorithms and it does not include flash sales and bargain offers for us. There are plenty of people who would line up for the last-minute sale which is nothing but a gimmick by the airlines. Usually the airfares sale is restricted to specific dates that also include black-out dates for major holiday destination.
5. Pick less popular time- Flexibility is the key but if you still want to go to a specific destination, it is best to use common sense. The best airfares are only available until they are completely sold out. Thus if you have a luck and the plane is half empty a week before its departure, you might get amazing price for that flight. If you would travel to some places during the peak travel season, the demand of the tickets will be high as well as the prices.

So the catch is that while booking flight tickets, last minute airfares are simply just a gimmick. We always recommend searching and booking flights early to find great deals. You can also use flights comparison website like SmartFlyer to search and compare the airfares.