항공권 싸게 사는 법Each airline has different conditions on air tickets, and the price of the air ticket varies depending on these conditions. Due to the constantly changing prices, there are rumors floating around online about ‘how to buy cheap airline tickets,’ but it’s still confusing as to whether this is really true. Today, we will learn about the misunderstandings and truths about how to buy cheap airline tickets.
Is it cheapest to buy on Tuesday?
In the past, data analysis showed that airline ticket reservation prices can vary depending on the day of the week you purchase. Skyscanner, an airline ticket reservation company, analyzed sales data in 2017 and found that “it is cheapest to book on Tuesday, and it is better to target 5 a.m.”
Afterwards, an analysis showed that it was cheapest to book plane tickets on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday, and in particular, rumors began to circulate that Tuesday was the day of the week with the lowest average price for international airline tickets between all cities around the world.
But is it true? A Korean Air official said through a media outlet, “I don’t think there is any basis for the claim that flight tickets are the cheapest on Tuesday morning.” He added, “Airline ticket prices are not organized uniformly, but are adjusted by route and class, so it is difficult to say that the cheapest ticket is available on Tuesday in terms of the system.”
Skyscanner, which published the results of the data analysis, also explained, “It is only a possibility, and since the price of airline tickets changes depending on various factors, it is impossible to conclude that airline tickets are cheap on just one day of the week.”
So, when can I buy it cheaply?
Rather than having a fixed price, airline tickets fluctuate frequently depending on various factors. It is difficult to predict easily because it is influenced by many factors such as ‘fuel price’, ‘seasonal characteristics’, and ‘number of seats supplied’.
However, as a key tip, if you are booking the same flight, the price increases by 25% for domestic flights two weeks prior to departure and nearly 30% one week prior to departure. For international flights, it is known to be cheapest to book between 80 and 45 days prior to departure. .
Also, rather than simply deciding when to purchase an airline ticket, it is a good idea to carefully consider things like schedule change fee terms and conditions to deal with unexpected situations well. It is often easier to change or cancel reservations when you make a reservation directly through an airline site rather than a travel agency site.
Look for special airline tickets
People who can travel freely regardless of schedule should look into so-called ‘missing ticket’ tickets. Missed tickets are tickets that are close to the departure date, and can be purchased at a low price because tickets that are at risk of being out of stock are sold at a low price.
On the other hand, it is also worth taking a look at ‘Early Bird Tickets’, which is one of the airline ticket promotions that offers tickets with a long expiration date in advance. Airline tickets are sold 2 to 10 months ahead of the departure date, so they can be purchased relatively cheaply.
However, these special price tickets are difficult to purchase due to high competition, and since they are cheap tickets, there may be many restrictions. Special price airline tickets usually do not allow changes to the departure date or refunds, do not include baggage, do not include in-flight meals, etc., so they are often not ‘special prices’. No matter how special the price is advertised, you must carefully look at the fees and various conditions before making a payment.
Should I delete cookies from time to time?
In addition, it turned out that ‘deleting cookies’, which is known as a useful tip for buying cheap airline tickets, is not very helpful. The logic was that airline ticket comparison sites use cookies to collect users’ search history, so consumers are more likely to purchase airline tickets that they search for a lot, so the site raises prices based on that history. In fact, it is true that airline ticket price comparison sites collect your cookies, but they are not reflected in the prices.
Skyscanner dismissed it, saying, ‘It only shows flight prices provided by travel agencies or airlines, and there is no correlation between search history and flight prices.’ Naver airline tickets had the same reaction. A Naver flight ticket official said, “Cookies have no effect on prices when it comes to flight ticket services.”
The common position of both sites is that sites that receive and provide price information from airlines and travel agencies in real time have no reason or benefit to adjust prices using cookies.
