1. Book flight tickets on Tuesday morning.
FYI, the cheapest flight tickets are offered early in the week and prices rise later in the week. You can buy the cheapest flight tickets on Tuesday morning because most airlines start their discount on Monday night. This could save you between 15% and 25%.
DON'T do it on Thursday. It's the MOST EXPENSIVE day to book flight tickets because airlines usually raise their prices on Thursday. The same goes for the weekend, as this is the last chance for airlines to offer high prices before they start dropping their prices at the beginning of the week.
Take a look at the example above. We compared the prices of flight tickets to destinations inside and outside of Asia and we found big price differences if you book tickets on Tuesday (the cheapest day to book flight tickets) and Thursday (the most expensive day to book flight tickets). For example, flight tickets from Kuala Lumpur (KLIA) to New York (JFK) on Tuesday morning and Thursday. As you can see on the image below, left the price of the ticket on Tuesday and right the price on Thursday, there is a price difference of RM 342 if you book flight tickets on the cheapest and most expensive day.
We also compared flight tickets to destinations within Asia. As you can see on the image below, where we compared flight tickets from Kuala Lumpur (KLIA) to Bangkok (Don Mueang), you can save RM 53 if you book your ticket on Tuesday morning instead of Thursday.
Having said that, be aware that flight tickets are more expensive if public holidays such as Christmas, Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Puasa, or Deepavali that fall on these weekdays.
2. Try to be flexible with your travel time.
In case you didn't know, the departure time of the flight influences the price of the flight ticket. Flying early in the morning or on Saturday afternoon or evening saves you a lot of money. The same goes for the so-called red-eye flights, which are flights that depart at night and arrive the next morning.
Take a look at the example above. The prices of flight tickets on Skyscanner departing at different times and found that flight tickets are much cheaper if you depart on Saturday afternoon or evening instead of Sunday. We compared tickets from Kuala Lumpur (KLIA) to Seoul (Incheon). Both flights depart on Wednesday morning, but as you can see, you can save RM 176 if you go back on Saturday instead of Sunday.
3. Try out other airports.
Sometimes it is much cheaper to depart from other airports. Many online travel companies such as Skyscanner, provide a function where you can select nearby airports in your search results.
Based on Skyscanner, departing from KLIA to Penang instead of Subang Airport is much cheaper. You can save RM 52 flying from KLIA instead of Subang departing at almost the same times. But, keep in mind that Subang Airport is more accessible and you'll have to pay more to travel to KLIA.
4. Stay closely in touch with the airlines.
Subscribe to the airline’s newsletter or follow their social media pages. For example, AirAsia and Firefly regularly share discount offers on their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram page.
5. Turn on the ‘Price Alert’ notifications
The price alert notification is the best way to find cheap tickets fast. You can turn the notification on for particular destinations or flights and you will receive a message when the prices rise or fall. Consider different airports as your departure and arrival destination because more options increase your chance of cheap flight notifications. Don’t forget to start tracking early because the earlier you set up price alerts, the higher the chance to find a great deal.
You can find the ‘Price Alert’ tool on the websites of Skyscanner, Kayak and Google Flights. Here’s an example of the ‘Price Alert’ tool on Skyscanner’s website.
Here’s another example on Kayak’s website.
And finally, here’s another one on Google Flights.
6. Use Skyscanner’s ‘Cheapest Month’ tool
Skyscanner’s cheapest month tool helps you to find the cheapest day to fly within a certain month. The cheapest days are indicated in green and the most expensive days in red. The images below show you how to find the tool on Skyscanner’s website.
Google Flights has a similar tool. In the date section, the cheapest days in the month are indicated in green.
These 6 tips already helped you to save a lot of money, apply for travel insurance to save even more money in case something unexpected happens. While you're at it, don't forget to purchase travel insurance for even more savings, especially when things go south.
*The above article is intended for informational purposes only. Loanstreet accepts no responsibility for loss that may arise from reliance on information contained in the articles.
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