Flight Destinations

When to book

As a general pattern, domestic US fares tend to settle somewhere between one and three months before departure, while long-haul international routes often price best two to six months out. Very late bookings and peak holiday windows are the usual exceptions.

Mid-week departures are frequently cheaper than Friday or Sunday, and early-morning flights often price below the same route later in the day. These are tendencies, not rules — a specific route in a specific week can behave differently.

What moves the price

• Flexibility. Shifting a departure by a day or two, or flying into a nearby airport, often changes the fare more than anything else.
• Routing. A connection can price very differently from a non-stop on the same dates.
• Fare type. Basic economy is usually the cheapest number shown and the most restricted — often no changes, no seat selection and no carry-on allowance.
• Trip shape. Multi-city and open-jaw itineraries are priced differently from simple round trips and are worth quoting separately.

What to have ready when you call

• Your dates, and how flexible they are
• Every airport you could reasonably depart from or fly into
• Passenger names exactly as they appear on the passport or ID being used
• Any frequent-flyer numbers
• The booking reference, if you are changing a trip you already have

Having names right the first time matters: correcting a name after a ticket is issued is far more work than entering it correctly at booking.