Best day and times to book air this summer from a travel agent friend

A friend of mine who's a travel agent said the best time to book this summer is on a Tuesday, 6A -12P. As usual good luck. Comments are welcome mainly because this person is usually quite right.

 

Nice thanks for the info will keep an eye on airfare did they give any date ranges for airfare.

 

dvandentop, once you keep looking at airfares between a certain city pairing, you will notice if it's a good deal or not when you find a lower than normal fare. For me flights between Seattle-Las Vegas is good when it's $200-250 per person in Economy and $500-600 in First Class.

 

Sad that $250 qualifies as a good deal out of Seatac now...

 

IMHO, it doesnt. $200 to $250 is about average coach, definately not a GOOD deal. There was a sale last week for $198. I found last minute sales for last weekend for $184. And as far as day and time of week best to book, that has pretty much been proven to be a myth these days.

 

I buy most of my tickets 1 month to 1 week out, so $200-250 is a good deal for me. It's been a while since I've seen <$200 fares in general out of SEA-LAS, but maybe it's because I only fly AS on this route.

 

Check out LMTCLUB or Cheapoair. They sell Alaska tickets, last minute, for a substantial discount. Example, last weekend on Alaska website, and everywhere else, it was around $250 each way. On LMT club, add a hotel for 1 night only, and it was $184 round trip. It was this way right up to the same day departure. There are several aggregators that do this, some without adding the hotel.

 

Thanks for the advice. Does one have to stay at the hotel so the return flights aren't cancelled?

 

No. I have never checked into the hotel. That way you don't get stuck with the resort fee either. Funny though, I was going to grab another trip leaving tomorrow or Sunday, and there are not any good deals this weekend that I can find. Last weekend there were lots available, leaving on Fri, Sat, Sun and Mon. I guess you just never know.

 

Just a quick check again, and flights leaving today (Sat) and returning Tues, with 1 night hotel on Alaska on LMTclub are running $216.00 R/T. Exact same flights on Alaskaair.com are $520. It really is a great option for people who have to travel last minute.

 

Very good news since my flights are always booked last minute to LAS. Much appreciated!

 

I have never had luck with the theory of "You find the best airfares between such and such time on such and such day." I have however had quite a bit of success with getting my air booked a certain amount of time before travel. I think the theory there is 54 or 56 days something like that. Mine has typically been 3 weeks to a month out if there's no big event going on that could make fares increase. I don't go completely by that either though. I go ahead and book as soon as I see a price I like.