Best purchase time of airline tickets

Now, it is true that the busiest shopping day of the week for airline tickets is Tuesday, but there is no evidence that Tuesday is the cheapest day to buy. First of all, domestic tickets can and do change three times a day (on weekdays) and once a day on weekends.

All the more reason that everyone should sign up for e-mail alerts that will follow these price changes for you, and let you know when good deals are available.

What about that myth that airlines raise prices for weekend departures? Not true. What is true is Saturday is one of the cheapest days to fly. And Sunday is one of the most expensive days to fly.

Something else to consider: Airlines follow a herd mentality. If one starts a sale, most of the others will follow; if one raises prices, the others will soon catch up.

Technology is your friend

Go to your favorite travel Web sites and see what’s available: Do they have e-mail alerts, historical airline tickets dates, graphs of trends, information on fuel surcharges and price hikes?

Find these tools and use them. Education is key, and having the right technology to help educate yourself is vital to finding cheap tickets.

Remember, the airlines would rather you didn’t find the cheap seats. They’d prefer that you bought more expensive tickets (or really expensive tickets). So they don’t make it easy for you.

Why not just tell when to buy?

I know what you want: You want someone to say, “Oh, you’re flying Burbank to Detroit this month? The cheapest tickets for that trip go on sale May 2.”

Unfortunately, nobody can tell you that. It simply cannot be done. But if you keep in mind my insider tips and know how to use the best available technological tools, you can get a good deal.
No, you may not always get the best deal; but you may get the second or third cheapest tickets and — guess what — you’ll still be flying for less than most of the others on your plane.