Yo-yo airfares: When waiting a few days can save you 50%
If you plan to fly in early January, watch out for yo-yo airfares. The first week of the new year is a perfect microcosm of the sometimes wild fluctuations of airline ticket prices. It also proves that moving an itinerary a day or so can save you plenty or cost you dearly.
Check out these fares for New York-Kansas City non-stops on United (found Nov. 13):
• Fare No. 1: Jan. 1-3, $511
• Fare No. 2: Jan. 1-5, $311
• Fare No. 3: Jan. 5-7, $227
There are several factors at play here.
Fare No. 1: This is a Friday/Sunday itinerary and those are typically the most expensive days of the week to fly. Add in the holiday premium for New Year's travel, plus the convenience premium for flying non-stop, and you pay top dollar.
Fare No. 2: This is a much better deal, mainly because the return date has been moved to Tuesday. As I've noted many times, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday are usually the cheapest days to fly and even if you can only shoehorn one of those days into a trip, you can still reap half the savings.
Fare No. 3: This ticket is more than 50% cheaper than the first fare, for a couple of reasons. The holiday travel season is over and these travel dates are now squarely in the January Deal Zone. Plus both departure and return dates are in the middle of the week, an unpopular time to fly. When people don't want to fly, prices drop.
How to find similar fares
You'll get a break on holiday pricing through mid-February when prices move up again for spring break; after that, another price dip followed by another rise for peak summer season travel starting in June. If you can't fly in between those high-fare periods, you can still save something if you follow this advice: Always compare airfare. No single airline always has the best price.
And while you're comparing airfare, compare prices for travel on different days of the week, different times of day, and prices to and from different airports if you have the luxury of choice.
FareCompare CEO Rick Seaney is an airline industry insider and top media air travel resource. Follow Rick (@rickseaney) and never overpay for airfare again.