Planning your air travel? Tuesdays are the best days to find cheap tickets

The last year has seen passengers scurry for cheap tickets and left almost always disappointed as the throwaway tickets would be sold out in a jiffy. But what’s the trend for 2015? Will air tickets be costly or cheap this year and is there really a “best” day to find low fares? These questions have been answered by online travel agency Expedia and the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC).

Here are some of the highlights and key predictions for 2015 from the generally upbeat study that might help out with your travel planning:

1. Book on Tuesdays: Tuesdays remain the best day of the week to find low fares on air travel booked at least three weeks in advance.

According to ARC data, the lowest ticket prices on most domestic tickets have been seen between 50 and 100 days before departure. For tickets bought three weeks or more in advance, the average price is $515 on Tuesday. However, that’s only $2 cheaper than Wednesday, $3 cheaper than Thursday, $5 cheaper than Monday, and $S7 cheaper than Friday. But prices skyrocket when purchased on Saturdays and Sundays. Expedia’s report showed that average tickets prices jump all the way to $543 on Saturday and $539 on Sunday. And this is for bookings nearly a month ahead of travel.

Because airfares and seat inventory can – and do – change minute-by-minute and day-by-day, a good strategy is to settle on a travel window and check fares several times a day. And to get some of the best deals, says the study, buy tickets for domestic travel at least two months in advance and six months in advance for international travel.

2. Book premium cabins: Expedia’s study found that, on some routes, there’s now a narrow enough difference in ticket prices for seats in the premium cabins (first and business), and nice enough perks, that buying a premium ticket offers good value. This means flying in Business class is no longer as expensive.

Premium ticket prices on long-haul routes are usually at least three-and-half times what economy tickets cost, but that on some short-haul routes in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific region the gap between the fares in the premium and economy cabins has been shrinking.

“Over the last few years, the fare gap between ticket prices for premium and economy classes has dropped precipitously. This means tickets for the best seats on the plane may be more attainable than you might think,” says the report.

3. Prices will be cheaper in 2015 Prices in many of the most popular destinations actually will decline slightly in 2015.

While higher demand likely will increase air fares, at the same time many regions will also see growth in capacity, similar to 2014. Expedia anticipates strong sector growth to continue in 2015. Another potential factor in prices is the decreasing cost of fuel. Oil prices for Brent crude futures dropped below $50/barrel in January 2015, down from more than $112 in June 2014. Lower fuel prices translate into lower operating costs for airlines, and, sometimes, air carriers pass along these savings to travelers in the form of lower air-ticket prices.

“Overall, slight increases in demand and larger increases in supply, combined with declining fuel prices should lead to lower prices in North America and Europe in 2015. Increased demand and limited supply will see ticket prices rise slightly in APAC. Increased capacity should contribute to growth in a variety of markets worldwide, such as Dallas, Istanbul, and Korea. Internationally, especially in Europe, LCCs continue to drive prices lower, due in part to unbundling services and prompting legacy carriers to do the same,” the survey said.