When should you buy holiday airline tickets, and from where? We have the answers

The Airline Reporting Corporation (ARC), which is like the back office of ticket selling for the nation’s airlines, has monitored data continually over a 19-month period and found that the magic time to buy a ticket is generally 8 weeks before you travel.

Try booking an airline ticket on this day…

So the latest ARC study suggests the old advice of booking 42 days before your departure has shifted to 57 days before travel.

Meanwhile, there’s always the question of what’s the best day to buy an airline ticket? Conventional wisdom held that it was Tuesday.

Not so anymore, says ARC. Their new recommendation is book on a Sunday as your first choice, followed by Saturday. Weekend airfare shopping is in!

Now, this is a general rule; it’s not true for every ticket. But overall, if you’re looking for a cheap fare, why not give it a try?

Try following airlines on social media because that’s where people are getting some of the lowest fares today. The airlines want to put out unpublished fares that will not be matched by others. Social media lets them attract a customer and not have to compete with each other.

The best website for booking your ticket is…

Now, where do you get best deal? A Wall Street Journal test reveals there is no one definitive website that will save you money every time. Whoever is cheapest one time may not be cheapest the next time. So shop and shop and shop on multiple websites to save the most money.

You can see my favorite websites for comparison shopping here.

And remember, the best deal flows to the opportunist. When you see a screaming deal, buy it and then figure why you want to go to the city you’ve booked!

4 Gateway Cities For Cheap European Fares

If you are going to Europe, the question of when to book is important, but not nearly as much as the question of what city you depart from. I’ve long recommended buying one ticket to a key bargain city and then going overseas from that city.

The cheapest gateway cities to Europe include New York, Orlando’s Sanford Field, Ft. Lauderdale, and San Francisco/Oakland.

If you’re frustrated with European fares, start with those gateways and you may wind up saving a substantial amount. But remember, don’t buy way early because you’ll probably later regret it.

As just one example of a discounter that flies out of those cities, Norwegian Air Shuttle is flying New York to Oslo for about $500 RT (roundtrip); NY to London at $384 RT; NY to Copenhagen at $474 RT; and San Francisco to Oslo at $596 RT.