Search icon

Lifestyle

07th May 2016

Airline expert reveals his top tip for getting the cheapest possible flight

No, it's not booking in advance.

Cathy Donohue

Nice one.

Once you catch the travel bug it’s very hard to curb it and the only thing holding most of us back is lack of funds.

However, there just might be a way to score cheaper tickets, according to Tim Lyon, managing director of revenue management at American Airlines.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Tim explained that to save money, you’re better off booking for “quiet times”.

In contrast to popular opinion, it has less to do with the time at which you book, but the time at which you’re flying.

aeroplane

It might sound like common sense just to book at that time but Tim says that this is how airlines operate flight prices.

When determining costs, the demand for the flight, number of seats sold and the distance of the flight are all important factors.

Fight prices can change a number of times a day and are often slashed when the demand for a route just isn’t there.

If you’re really confused about what your best option for cheap prices, here is Tim’s advice in a nutshell: “travel in January, February, and September because those are the months airlines don’t have people traveling”.

Handy advice to keep in mind next time you’re booking a ticket out of here.