PHOENIX — Anyone who buys a flight knows that the ticket prices can fluctuate week to week, even day to day.
A theory spreading around the internet says that Tuesday near midnight is the best time to purchase a ticket to fly, but is that true?
We VERIFY:
THE QUESTION:
Is Tuesday the best day to book a flight to save money?
THE SOURCES:
- Airlines Reporting Corporation
- 2022 Travel Trends Report
THE ANSWER:
False. The Airlines Reporting Corporation partners with Expedia every year to analyze the purchase data of thousands of travel agencies and hundreds of airlines.
The report found flights booked on Sunday often were the cheapest, with the average savings varying from 5 to 10%.
WHAT WE FOUND:
Airline ticket prices do change constantly. The data behind them can vary from airline to airline, even flight to flight.
“There are a myriad of reasons for that, whether it’s seat availability, forecasting the airlines do,” said Randy Spoon with the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC).
ARC manages billions of dollars of transactions between airlines and travel agencies. In 2019, the corporation handled more than $97.4 billion in transactions between airlines and travel agencies, representing more than 302 million passenger trips.
According to the travel trends report, Sunday is usually the best day to book, while the cheapest day to fly is Friday.
For domestic flights, the study found prices start to go up around three weeks before the departure date.
“It has been fairly consistent over the years,” Spoon said.
The report found booking on a Sunday has been the cheapest option for the last five years.
However, Spoon said this is a general rule, and will not be the case for every flight.
"Obviously, there will be exceptions to the rule. This is pretty general based on the millions if not billions transactions exchanges or refunds we see," Spoon said.
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