Best time to purchase airline tickets?

[Tiffany4412]

Planning on going in Aug. 2016. General rule for purchasing tickets in advance? Thank you!

 

[SYates]

Around three months beforehand and urban myth has it that they tend to be cheaper in the middle of a week. Buen Camino, SY

 

[Dutch]

Was on the news not so long ago. Buy on tuesday(night), never on fri-sat-sun.

100% right? No idea, but worth comparing it, i would think...

 

[EL Guapo]

I normally fly on Monday or Tuesday from the US to España. I always fly into Madrid,because it is easy access to anywhere in country via train,bus , or aero plane. The difference in price for other days of the week are around $500 bucko's. My normal route is via Seattle and Amsterdam onto Madrid. If you are on the east coast you will use either JFK or ATL as your outbound exit flight. Minneapolis is another choice as well depending on air line. My preference is delta and KLM. I just purchased my ticket for this April and it was around $1400 for a Tuesday flight. Other days were around $1800. Just my two cents worth,hope it helps .

 

[William Marques]

And midweek flights are often less populated back in the cheap seats than week end ones.

 

[timr]

I think there is an element of witchcraft in finding the cheapest deals but nonetheless I found this article from last weekend's Guardian interesting. And they are usually fairly reliable and I have picked up useful tips in the past.
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/jan/04/cheap-holiday-guide-2016-insider-travel-tips

 

[C clearly]

I think there is an element of witchcraft in finding the cheapest deals but nonetheless I found this article from last weekend's Guardian interesting. And they are usually fairly reliable and I have picked up useful tips in the past.
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/jan/04/cheap-holiday-guide-2016-insider-travel-tips

I would just point out that the airline market in Europe (described in the Guardian article) might be quite different from the situation for transatlantic flights.

 

[DowtyCamino]

Regardless, you're in luck in two regards:
1) Flights globally are cheaper now than in the last several years. There has been a 10% average reduction in global airfares in the last year.
2) If you are coming from the U.S., the dollar is very strong with respect to the Euro in relation to recent history.

 

[HikingGeo]

Planning on going in Aug. 2016. General rule for purchasing tickets in advance? Thank you!

I was just researching this today. I found several different "studies". For international from US, one study showed 150-225 days in advance, with 171 being the best. A second recommended 1 1/2 to 5 1/2 months. A third was more specific to US to Europe and listed the best as 96 days, which would be consistent with SYates' suggestion. Most studies recommended booking early in the week, with Tuesday's around 3:00 PM Eastern time being optimal.