Cheap flight myths busted

You hear them all the time from your friends and family… “Buy your tickets on a Tuesday at 2 pm!” “Wait until the last minute to buy a ticket!” “Clear your cookies or search in incognito mode!” None of these are true. We’ll be busting some of the cheap flight myths today and when you’re done, look at my multiple posts on how to find cheap flights.

Myth #1: Search in incognito mode or clear your cookies.

Searching in incognito mode or clearing your cookies has no basis in the flight pricing fluctuations. Flight prices are volatile in general. For services like Scott’s Cheap Flights, Hopper, etc. where they are constantly running searches for the cheapest flights, they would never be able to find them based on how many times they search “Denver to New Delhi.” I’ve personally searched “Memphis to London” hundreds of times and the prices are usually consistent.

Myth #2: Buy your tickets on Tuesdays at 2 pm.

Airlines used to put their tickets on “sale” on Tuesdays, but this is no longer the case. Keep an eye out on deals and you’ll see a fluctuation. There is no magic day or hour to book your flight to ensure it’s the cheapest.

While buying your ticket on a Tuesday may not get you a cheaper ticket, flying out on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday is usually the cheaper days to fly.

Myth #3: Buy airline tickets really early or right before your trip.

Both of these are guaranteed to get you the most expensive flight. The sweet spot is 2-8 months out for international and 1-3 months out for domestic. 7 weeks tends to be the money maker though. Anything within the 3-week mark and you’re bound to pay much more. The reason? Usually, the only people buying last-minute flights are businesses and they’ll pay whatever they need to for their flight. Leisure travelers tend to book their flights months in advance, so airlines will start the ticket price off as high as they can to gauge the interest and demand in these flights. Once they figure that piece of information out, they adjust the prices.

Myth #4: Websites can predict price changes.

Flight prices fluctuate for a variety of reasons. Demand, availability, dates are among some. Because of this, it is impossible to guess when a flight is at its most expensive or least expensive price. Sales come at random times and include seemingly random dates. Christmas, Thanksgiving, and summers are consistently the most expensive time to travel because the demand is so high. However, I’ve seen some price drops that include those dates. So if a website is promising they can predict a flight will be cheaper, they’re lying.

If I know I’m going to a specific location, I’ll monitor the flight prices at least 4-5 months out if possible. Google Flights offers a handy tool that shows you the cheapest the flight has been and the most expensive. I try to let the price decide the location of my trips and this gives me more room when it comes to my finances. Don’t believe the hype when it comes to these myths. Keep an eye out, sign up for Scott’s Cheap Flights, and travel cheaply :)