A pair of economists has found that the best time for UK travelers to purchase airfare tickets is 8 weeks ahead.
I don't think you can apply one general rule, but have found this to be true for the most part for Canadians as well. A few months ahead seems to be a good sweet spot. It's late enough that the airlines start getting twitchy about not filling enough seats, but early enough that the prices don't start to rise exorbitantly.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010...ight-week-rule
Quote:
It is a question that anyone booking a holiday or business trip will have asked themselves countless times: exactly when is the best time to buy an advance plane ticket to fly at the cheapest price?
Leave it too late and prices shoot up, and there is a danger the flight will be fully booked. But book too early and you run the risk that plans may change and you will be out of pocket if you don't travel or have to alter the flight.
Help is at hand. An economist, Makoto Watanabe, has calculated that the optimum time to buy an airline ticket is eight weeks in advance of flying.
His yet-to-be-published findings also suggests that airline tickets are cheaper when purchased in the afternoons, rather than the mornings, prompting him to speculate that airlines are assuming business travellers will book their tickets at work in the morning on the company account, whereas leisure travellers are more likely to book from home in the afternoon.
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