What time of the week is best to buy Southwest flights?

Watch for sales (They happen frequently) Southwest has an unofficial but predictable fare sale calendar that drops the prices on some routes nearly every Tuesday. While it's not a published policy, these generally run from Tuesday through Thursday and offer one-way prices on select routes as low as $39.



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Bottom Line. While the best time to purchase tickets on can Southwest vary a little, a general rule of thumb is to shop Tuesday at 3 p.m. eastern time when the airline has matched other airline sale prices.

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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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Flights are generally the most inexpensive between four months and three weeks before your departure date. Seasonal changes and holidays can create price fluctuations in ticket prices. The day of the week that you book a flight does not affect the price.

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Those who buy on Sunday instead of Friday (the most expensive day to shop for plane tickets) will save on average 17% on domestic flights and 24% on international ones.

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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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Average domestic airfare price by day 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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It's not only important to know the best day to book flights – you'll also want to get familiar with the worst days to book. Friday and Saturday are the worst times to book a flight if you're trying to save money. ARC's 2023 report noted that Friday is the worst day to book flights, domestic and international.

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In the early days of online flight booking, airlines used to manually post their updated prices at a certain time of day each week. 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).

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The reality is that flight prices change constantly and at all hours of the day, adjusting to real-time demand. 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.

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Generally, Mondays and Thursdays tend to offer cheaper fares for Southwest flights compared to weekends. It's recommended contact 1-888-526-0444 to book your ticket on these days to increase your chances of getting better deals.

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Southwest Airlines releases flight schedules in batches of about two months at a time. New flights and dates are typically released about every four to 10 weeks. Southwest releases new flight schedules on the release date in batches, usually between around 7 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. ET.

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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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Tuesday was the clear winner with the least cancellations and the least flight delays, with Monday close behind. According to the study, the best days of the week to fly are Tuesday and Monday, and the worst days of the week to fly are Thursday and Friday.

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The best time of day to fly is in the morning, before 8 a.m. Early morning flights are less likely to be delayed or go through turbulence, and they're often cheaper. There are advantages to flying at other times, too, so pick what works best with your travel plans.

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Generally, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday are the cheapest days to fly, while Fridays and Sundays are pricier, according to travel deal site FareCompare. Leisure travelers tend to fly on the weekends, either starting their vacations on Friday or taking a long weekend Friday to Sunday.

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“Historically, Tuesdays were the cheapest day to book flights,” says Laura Lindsay, global travel trends expert for trip-booking website Skyscanner. “This was broadly true prepandemic as seasonality and even weekly pricing cycles were more predictable.

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