While it can seem complicated to deal with the complex world of airline pricing, understanding the various trends in ticket pricing gives consumers the tools to make better informed booking decisions. BookFlight has mined millions of fare changes from which to derive trends that are available to help you maximize your opportunities for a good price for your next flight.

Seasonal Trends Affect Pricing Systems

Flight pricing typically has seasonal trends that correspond with travel demand across the calendar. Summer months typically have the highest fares when families go on holiday and corporate travel gets busy. BookFlight data says that flights from June to August could be 25-30% more expensive than shoulder season flights. 

Winter has different pricing trends, depending on your destination. Flights to warmer destinations are at a peak during December and January while domestic routes to colder destinations have the broadest savings opportunities during these months. 

Weekly Cycles Create Opportunities 

Different principles of pricing will govern airline pricing systems based on travel patterns through the weeks, and this is where good opportunities exist for savvy travelers. BookFlight tracking shows that flights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays typically have the cheapest fares, while flights on Fridays and Sundays generally have higher prices due to business or weekend escape travel.

The day of your actual booking is a very important factor. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday will usually be cheaper than when leisure travelers are buying and booking their travel on the weekend.

Economic Influencers Affect Price Movement

Fuel prices are still the largest influencer of airline fare fluctuations, consuming around 20-30% of the operating budget for airlines because of jet fuel. When oil prices increase, airlines tend to raise their prices quickly. BookFlight looks at these correlating trends so they can predict when airline fares will increase or decrease according to price movement in the energy market.

Currency fluctuations can also increase or decrease price movements for international flights, whether the passenger is booking an overseas carier or an airline in Canada or America. Currency exchange rate fluctuations can yield some surprising savings opportunities for the international traveler.

Technology and Competition are re-shaping price influences

The presence of low-cost carrier pricing has fundamentally changed the pricing dynamics for every segment of each market. Traditional carriers now have an increased level of competition for mass routes which has created intense price competition in the market that can be helpful to the consumer. BookFlight users can capitalize on competitive pricing behavior by selecting and comparing several airlines and booking classes.

Dynamic pricing strategies have amplified the number of potential fare changes and enhanced the consistency of the fare-changing process. Prices are now being changed many times throughout each day based on, but not limited to, demand, competition, and pace of booking, providing a traveler who is willing to adapt their itinerary, opportunity.

Route-Specific Price Trends Provide Savings

Popular travel destinations come with their own unique pricing trends that correlate to regionally-based events and seasons. BookFlight's research has shown that fares to sunny beach locations are considerably more expensive during spring break weeks and fares to ski destinations are higher during winter holiday weeks. 

Business travel routes show differing behavior as the most expensive fares are nearly always either Monday morning or Friday evening flights, while returning midweek can provide value to the flexible traveler.

Destination Industries and Looking Forward

In the future, we can once again expect pricing to become more dynamic with artificial intelligence further feeding the pricing systems that will then allow airlines to price flights in real-time, for example based on the weather, events, and competitors' actions. BookFlight continues to evolve its price forecasting tools enabling travelers to stay ahead of these advances.

Knowing price trends will turn plane booking from a guess to a plan allowing travelers to negotiate better deals and potentially visit more destinations.