Is Tuesday at midnight the best time to book a flight?

In the past, you may have heard that the secret best time to buy plane tickets was Tuesday at midnight, but according to Hayley Berg, lead economist for travel deals app Hopper, that's not always the case. “We found that this was only applicable to 1.6% of routes and yielded savings of 6%,” she says.



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This led to the rise of the myth that the cheapest time to book a flight was on Tuesday (and specifically at 3am, many claimed). Airfare prices are now updated constantly and automatically, using complex algorithms, yet still myths persist that there's a cheapest day of the week to buy flights.

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Tuesday Around Midnight is the Cheapest Time to Book In general, flights were slightly cheaper at midnight earlier in the week (Monday through Wednesday). However, this is only applicable to about 1.6% of U.S. markets, meaning that it's not likely you'll find the same savings on your specific route.

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Airlines don't restock on the same day every week like a grocery store, so you won't find deals by waiting until Tuesdays to book. However, you might find some modest savings if you're willing to fly on a Tuesday or Wednesday, when there's less demand than usual.

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Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the cheapest days to fly domestically. The cheapest days to depart if you're flying within the U.S. are midweek — generally Tuesday or Wednesday. For economy tickets, Tuesdays are about 24% lower than peak prices on Sundays, which translates to savings of about $85 per ticket.

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More specifically, Tuesday at about 15:00 eastern time. This is because many airlines release weekly sales early on Tuesday, which creates competition between airlines to match prices.

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The process is largely controlled by computer software and is increasingly being bolstered by AI, so price changes can happen at any second. That's why there's no specific time of day — or even a specific day of the week, for that matter — that's best for booking cheap flights.

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Yes. Red eye flights are usually cheaper. Because of their obscure flight times, red eye flights are usually less in-demand. Therefore, airlines offer red eye flight tickets at a cheaper price as an incentive for passengers to book flights during these off-peak hours.

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Travel Tuesday is the Tuesday after the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend. It's a pretty recent phenomenon which can see consumers benefiting the most from extra discounts and deals when it comes to travel.

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We've explained why Tuesday is the best day to shop for airline tickets in the past – because so many airlines release weekly sales early on Tuesday, which then prompts competing airlines to match prices – so Tuesday is a good day to find a lot of deals. But don't worry, you can find deals on other days, too.

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We've explained why Tuesday is the best day to shop for airline tickets in the past – because so many airlines release weekly sales early on Tuesday, which then prompts competing airlines to match prices – so Tuesday is a good day to find a lot of deals. But don't worry, you can find deals on other days, too.

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Saturdays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays also come in as the cheapest days to fly, because they're not popular travel days. Due to popularity, Sundays and Fridays are usually the most expensive days to fly. Holidays always play a major role in not only traffic and delays, but also in price.

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The general rule is that for domestic flights, travelers should start searching for flight tickets one to three months in advance. For international flights, the best prices are typically available from two to eight months in advance. Prices can also vary widely among airlines.

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They might, or they might not. As a matter of fact, flight prices can change any minute of the day. That includes, but is not restricted to, midnight. They can change somewhere in the middle of the day as well.

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On clear nights, there is less friction against the wings which makes for obstruction-free sailing across the sky. Less air traffic also means smoother cruising, since most pilots can sit back and not worry about the aircraft in their path.

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As we've shown, the price of ticket on any one flight will change – and can even change multiple times a day. You simply do not have the time to mull things over and to shop around the Internet indefinitely to “make sure” you're getting the best deal.

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How to set up Google Flights alerts
  1. Enter your travel information. Enter your travel details into Google Flights (number of passengers, origin airport, destination airport, dates, etc.). ...
  2. Click the “Track prices” toggle. ...
  3. View the flights you're tracking. ...
  4. Monitor your email.


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