Sometimes buying airplane tickets is like playing the market. Actually it is even better, because it’s your budget and your fun to plan and enjoy the good deals. Yes, unless you are frequent travel, being here and there but just on business and your company covering the travel expenses. Sure, if your time is more money than the ticket, these tips are not for you. Here we have a few ideas for budget travelers on holidays.
Thanksgiving and Christmas seem to be the busiest days in the year. Everybody wants to spend them with his family and nowadays it’s not hard to have your family in Miami while you work in Seattle. Airplanes bring families together but prices tear them apart. Logically Wednesday before Thanksgiving is one of the busiest day at the airports. Saturday, December 21st this years will also be hectic since Christmas is almost right after the weekend.
If we can simplify the whole business the ticket prices are moved from a few other factors except the fuel prices and the airports taxes. It is called demand and supply and it is valid for every free market. When these are equal we have a moment of balance but the world is big and this balance doesn’t last for longer.
It’s Thanksgiving and you plan to visit your family in Miami. At this particular moment thousands of other people are thinking the same, because they do not want to disappoint those who love them. Websites are receiving bookings, sending back e-tickets, sending messages that there are no more available seats or offering absolutely unacceptably high prices. What a wonderful beginning of your holiday.
To avoid all this you can apply some of the ideas below:
1. A day changes everything
You will be surprised how a day absolutely changes your price and experience. Chose to fly a day earlier and a day later and you can have a price from $30, $50 or even $100 lower. The demand for tickets is not that big on these days and therefore you have your first savings. This option has another positive feature: your travel will be more comfortable because the crowds are flying the next day.
2. Time for early planning
Sure we live in a world that is too busy to make plans for entertainment when the work in the office is burring us. Still, there are periods when it is crystal clear that you will be somewhere, especially on these family holidays. So, you might think that booking airplane ticket in August for Thanksgiving trip is way too early but actually it is not. Earlier purchase will make you another $40-$70 or even more richer.
3. Last call for passengers
Another option is to wait for the last-call and regularly to check the availability and the prices. Unfortunately this is quite risky and usually it doesn’t work on holidays. Last minute offers are usually limited for the last available seats. Carriers prefer to sell them than flying half-loaded so they offer them at quite lower price; but won’t rely on this too much. Everybody knows that on Thanksgiving and Christmas everything is fully booked.
