Airfare Deals: The Best Days to Fly

If you are looking for a great deal on airfare then you can save some extra bucks by booking on the right days of the week.

Airlines are always trying to fill their unused seats and they will offer deals on the days that they tend to have less traffic. If you are willing to fly on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday then you can get yourself a great deal on airfare. You will always want to check out several different options before you book a flight, and book well in advance when you can, but these three days usually will offer the best fares. Here's why:

Airlines basically have 4 types of travelers.

Business Travelers - Typically like to fly to work at the beginning of the week. Monday morning is one of the busiest times for airlines due to the high volume of business travelers. Monday morning fares, especially to big cities and centers of commerce can be very expensive. When do they return? Near the end of the week so they are back home for the weekend, like a Thursday night or Friday morning, these days are also pretty busy.

Weekenders - These are the travelers that are looking for a quick getaway to popular touristy destinations. The weekend travelers will usually be traveling after work on a Friday afternoon or evening and may sometimes even take an extra day off of work and begin their mini vacation on a Thursday evening. Weekenders are looking to get home on Sunday night to maximize their time spent away from home while still getting back in time for work.

Vacationers - These are the people who take whole weeks to go to destinations around the country and the world. Many people book their vacation as a package deal and are usually gone for a week or more. Most vacation packages (not all) are scheduled to depart and return on the weekends. It is rare to find package deals that begin and end mid week. Lots of vacationers do use Saturday as a travel day when all of the business travelers are at home, and the weekenders are already where they want to be. Saturday is primarily a day for leisure travelers, and less busy than other weekend days like Friday and Sunday.

Last Minute Bookings - There are numerous reasons that passengers book last minute. Last minute bookings are fairly rare in the airline world, but they do happen, and the airline gouges passengers who are looking to get away now. Last minute bookings by nature can happen anytime, so they don't fall into any particular pattern of frequency of days traveled.

When you consider the first three groups of travelers you will see a lot of overlap between the groups on the weekends excluding Saturday. Very few people book travel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, that means that it's a good time to get a deal. Most travelers are already where they want to be on mid-week days. While their is definitely some vacation traffic on Saturdays, it will almost always be quieter than a Friday, Sunday, or Monday therefore the fares will usually be more affordable when you travel between the peak days.

The next time you structure your vacation, consider traveling mid-week to get a better deal on airfare. You may find that switching to an off peak weekday or Saturday can save you lots of money on airfare!