When to book.

Are you like me and book your flights direct from the internet, expecting to find a low price ticket? An article I read recently suggested that:-

“…we have reached a new plateau in the UK-Europe market where spectacular market growth is a thing of the past. The ‘golden years’ of low-cost in the UK were probably between 1996 and 2006, with the routes launched during that period stimulating tens of millions of passengers to explore an ever-growing network of European destinations thanks to cheap fares.Low-cost is now the new normal. ” (aviation economics 2014)

If that is the case when is the best time to book? You can get conflicting advice, book early, book last minute, if low cost is the new norm does it matter? According to research by Skyscanner their are optimum times to book, they vary by destination, by airline & by date of travel. Obviously in a market industry, prices rise at peak holiday periods, i.e school holidays. So the obvious answer, if you can avoid those times for your travel and get yourself better options.  If you can only go in school holidays then you have to look that bit harder. To help to decide when to book this article may be of use to you. For ‘go when you want’ and business travelers have a look here. For me, as I have freedom of choice when I travel I get a base line from one of the companies like Expedia, then I go to the aggregators like Skyscanner who use meta technology to identify flights, then I check the airline’s own website – sometimes I have a loyalty card or frequent flyer discount that i can apply. Happy Travels!!