If you plan on traveling during Thanksgiving week, buying your plane tickets sooner rather than later will save you some money. Rick Seaney is the founder and CEO of FareCompare.com and says starting this week, you can add about a dollar for each ticket every day you wait. In a couple of weeks, that will go up to $2 to $3 more every day.
If you have a flexible schedule you can save even more money. Seaney says most people fly out on a Wednesday and home again on a Sunday during Thanksgiving week.
“For example a Tuesday – Saturday itinerary or a Tuesday – Monday itinerary is typically about 40% cheaper than for example a Wednesday through Sunday itinerary.”
Seaney says usually the cheapest days to fly are on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. There is a tip for families as well.
“If you are shopping for four people in your group and you see a price, go ahead and shop for one person. There is a glitch in the reservation system that says everyone has to fly at the same price even if there are a few seats that have a cheaper price. You can actually split your purchase, get two or three of the cheaper tickets and only one of the more expensive tickets.”
The best time to start shopping for a domestic airline tickets is about three months ahead of the trip. Seaney says if you start looking earlier than that, airlines are only selling the 4th and 5th cheapest price.
By Karla James of Nebraska Radio Network
