The cost or price an airline charges for air travel from one destination to another. Airfare may vary based on:
- Travel dates and seasons (peak vs. off-peak)
- Time of purchase (buying tickets in advance costs less)
- Class of travel (economy, business class, first class)
- Type of fare (one-way, round-trip, refundable, non-refundable)
- Airline and route
- Demand and availability
Airfares typically include the base fare set by the airline, as well as taxes, fees, and surcharges imposed by governments and aviation authorities.
Additional charges may apply for checked baggage, seat selection, on-board meals, and other ancillary services.
How to find the lowest/cheap Airfare?
- Be flexible: Fixed dates might just increase airfare. Mid-week flights or flights booked during the shoulder season are often cheaper.
- Use flight search engines and comparison sites: Sites like Skyscanner, Kayak, and Google Flights allow you to compare prices across multiple airlines and dates.
- Sign up for fare alerts and deal newsletters that notify you of sales and discounted fares.
- Book early or last minute: Booking your flights well in advance usually yields lower prices. Alternatively, last-minute deals may pop up for unsold seats.
- Consider budget airlines: Low-cost carriers like Southwest, JetBlue, Ryanair, and EasyJet often have cheaper base fares, but watch out for fees for checked bags and other extras. Every country usually has a low cost carrier which you can book for domestic transit.
- Be airport flexible: Check prices for nearby airports as well. Smaller regional airports can sometimes have lower fares.
- Use airline miles and credit card rewards: Redeeming frequent flyer miles or credit card points can significantly reduce or eliminate the cost of airfare.
- Travel light: Avoiding checked baggage fees by only bringing a carry-on can save money.
- Clear your browser cookies: Airlines may show higher fares based on your browsing history, so clearing cookies can reset prices. Or surf in incognito mode.
- Follow airlines on social media: Airlines often promote flash sales and deal alerts on their social media channels.
- Try connecting flights: flights with a layover are usually cheaper than direct flights
Are airfares cheaper on Tuesday?
The short answer is yes. Air fares are usually cheaper on Tuesday and Wednesday. According to Economic times, you can save about 15% on domestic flights or 8% on international flights if you fly on a Wednesday compared with flying on a Sunday.
This could be because of:
- Airline schedule changes: most airlines release discounted fairs late Monday/early Tuesday to promote early bookings
- Lesser business travel: Corporates usually book flights during the beginning or the end of the work week, leaving tuesday quite open
- With less business bookings, airlines look to attract leisure travellers to book on tuesday or wednesday with good discounts
But, in all honesty, booking on Tuesday isn’t a surefire way to get cheap airfare. Be flexible, look out for discounts
How to get cheap airfare last minute?
A lot of these tips coincide with the answer to “How to find the lowest/cheap airfare?” but here are some additional tips:
- Look for waived change fees: Post the pandemic, many airlines have updated their booking policies. Which now means that you can re-book flights without worry. So if you’re paying $1,000 for a flight and after a few days the fee drops to $800, you can re-book it and get the $200 as flight credits to use later. Collect these and you might just be able to afford a flight ticket!
- Get off-the-counter discounts: It’s always a good idea to just ask. An upgrade to business class is much cheaper at the counter as opposed to online. But this one is a hit and a miss so don’t rely on this tip.
- Book 2 one way flights: This could be cheaper than a roundtrip if you manage to get the cheapes flights for both the ways. Just beware of additional fees like baggage.
When to book airfare?
There’s no specific timeframe to book flights. But if you’re looking for cheap flights, I recommend booking at least 6-8 weeks in advance for domestic and 4-6 months for international.