What flights are the "best"?

When it comes to flying have you ever given it much thought about which flight(s) throughout the day are the best to book? Let me help you out!

When it comes to flights, try to book the first one leaving in the morning. Typically this flight will always leave as sometimes it is actually used as the guinea pig when it comes to weather to see how bad it really is. If this flight does get cancelled then you are the first flight of the day to be rebooked so there are a lot more options to getting you out of town compared to the fifth cancelled flight of the day. If you flight is cancelled make sure to ask the agent that is helping you rebook to see if there are flights on any of their partner carriers as they can rebook you on those flights as well as theirs.

Another flight that is popular if you are travelling somewhere with a time change is the Red Eye. The reason for this is because most of the time you arrive at your destination in the morning or early afternoon so basically get an extra full day. The downside with this too is that you may arrive hours before hotel check in so if you are not someone that sleeps on planes or you need to be in your hotel before the standard check in you will have to book the hotel with the check in date being the day before your arrival and let the hotel know you will be checking in late. If you do not let the hotel know you will be arriving late in the day or early the next morning then they will mark your reservation as a no show, charge you for at least one night, and release the room to be sold to someone else.

Airlines generally release flights 6-9 months prior to departure so this is the best time to book as there is a ton of availability so prices are low. Last minute bookings (within a week before departure) can sometimes get you a discounted price due to a seat sale as the airline tries to fill the last seats but this can be hard to guess as the flight could fill up before this time comes or it may be so close to being full that the tickets are highly priced due to only a couple seats being left. If you are going somewhere and you need to arrive on a specific date or it is a holiday, try to book your tickets as soon as you know the date or the airline releases them for booking as this will not only provide you the best fare, it will also give you the peace of mind knowing it has already been dealt with.

If you are working with a travel agent, they can sometimes find Up Fares which upgrade you from Premium Economy to Business for free if there is availability. These fares are very rare and random so do not be shocked if the agent cannot find one. If they are able to, make sure they book your seat assignment as this will lower the chances of you getting bumped.

When you are booking flights there are a couple general rules of thumb to follow. The first being use incognito mode and clear your cache / cookies as this has been known to help lower airfares especially if you have been checking the regularly, use an app like Hopper to track / predict flight costs, check out the airlines promotions / offers / seat sales area of their website (can be hard to find), and check to see if your credit card has any points or perks you can use on your trip.