There’s always a lot of talk about when it’s best to buy airline tickets—how far in advance, what day, even what time. A recent study that got a lot of publicity, even a Wall Street Journal article, suggested that Sunday is the best day because it has the lowest average prices as reported by travel agencies.
But expert blogger Cranky Flier points out that there’s a false premise there: The weekend average fare is low because a large percentage of it is leisure flyers in coach seeking bargains, while most of the higher-priced (both coach and premium) fares are booked during the business week. The study would be valid only if it compared a basket of similar-to-each-other seats.
Besides puncturing the Sunday bubble, he’s got good advice on buying tickets.
