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Fly Cheaper?
| Does the promise of a few precious days of rest and relaxation have you
waking up and checking airline ticket Web sites morning, noon, and night? And
then checking them some more? Market research shows this is exactly what you
do, and that most of us shop four to six Web sites over several days before we
buy. All in the search for that increasingly elusive super-cheap airfare deal.
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| The reason? Trust. Wait … maybe I should say,
lack of trust. You see, shoppers have noticed that price quotes don't always
match what is actually available, even on the same airline site, on the same
day; so it's hard to trust that the price you've been quoted is the best deal.
Your instincts say, if you buy now you might be sorry later (trust them). Who's
looking out for you? Not the airlines. Selling airline tickets is a big and
very complex business and - like any business - it's all about maximizing
profit. |
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How do they do this? The airlines put you through a purchasing cycle I'll
call the airline ticket stock market. The more you know about the market, the
easier it is to find those deals. Every day, millions of airline seats are
sold. Sound like a lot? Well, know that as you read this there are
three-quarters of a million people about 30,000 feet above your head.
The core of the market is a clearinghouse called ATPCO (Airline Tariff
Publishing Company). ATPCO was a federal agency until the airline deregulation
of 1978. It is now owned by a couple dozen airlines. And it is through this
exchange that more than 500 airlines worldwide file hundreds of thousands of
airfare prices throughout the day. |
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Airfare prices - new and changed -
are filed throughout the day and subsequently sent out to online travel
agencies and the airlines themselves. The following chart shows you when the
fares are loaded into the system and when those new fares show up on the online
travel sites. Your instincts that tell you to shop morning, noon and night are
almost right; now you know when to shop to save time and maximize your chance
at getting a better deal. But please note: airline pricing systems are
programmed to stay on par with the competition. The airlines are constantly
monitoring competitors and changing their prices to make sure they are not one
dollar above or below the |
competition. That is, unless they know they can charge a premium because of
lack of competition in a market, or for travelers' favorite days to fly
(Monday, Friday, Sunday), favorite times to fly (morning and afternoon) and
favorite routes to fly (non-stops).
Other Key Tips
After looking at airfare every day for over five years, here are some insider
tips and info I would like to share that can save you time and money:
*Airlines almost always initiate system-wide price
increases Thursday evening at 8 p.m. In 2007 this happened 23 times, and it has
happened four times so far this year. This gives other airlines the weekend to
match the price, so a decision to continue the increase or rollback occurs
usually Monday evening. Airlines almost always file airfare sales on Sunday
evening or Monday during the day. The airlines know that the busiest airline
ticket shopping days are Monday through Wednesday during daytime hours, which
allows them to maximize the marketing impact of their sales.
*Airlines tend to manage their domestic U.S.
airfares in four- to five month cycles; they tend to charge non-competitive,
mid-tier rates for anything outside that window. Don't shop too early; start
shopping about four months out and you'll have a better chance of establishing
a baseline price and catching one of the few quarterly airfare sales.
Procrastinators in 2008 will not be rewarded.
*Airlines have been studying your air travel
buying habits for years; they know when you want to go, where you want to go
and what time you want to go. Now that you know what they know, be flexible
with your dates and destinations and you'll always get a better deal. Airlines
are quick to promote new international routes with super cheap introductory
pricing (like Northwest's $500+ round-trip fare for June travel from Seattle to
London). Keep an eye out for news of new routes.
*Airfare mistakes do happen. Just Monday United
was accidentally selling Dallas to Honolulu for under $200 out the door
roundtrip. Sign up for airfare email alerts so you can catch a few airfare
mistakes during the year -- they are almost always honored by the airline.
Making good airline ticket buying decisions is all about using a combination of
new technology and education; if airline ticket buying has been a source of
frustration for you, then start taking advantage of both. |
Meeting someone? Checking on a flight coming in
or leaving? Check our flight tracker link:
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