The Best Way to Find Affordable Last-Minute Flight Tickets, According to Experts

Airfare prices can be highly fluctuating. It turns out, there are tricks to get cheap flight tickets.
The ups and downs of flight ticket prices are influenced by increasing demand. When the demand reaches a certain percentage of seats sold, algorithms raise the flight ticket prices.

According to Travel + Leisure, on Monday (September 18, 2023), these prices can become very unstable for passengers buying last-minute tickets. This is because airlines know that business travelers are willing to pay a premium for the remaining seats. Last-minute vacationers tend to feel the impact unless they have miles or points.

If you’re paying in cash, it can be very expensive when booking last-minute. However, paying in the form of points and miles often equals the price of booking several months in advance. Not always, but often,” said Katy Nastro, a travel expert and spokesperson for the company Going.

As long as there are seats available, Nastro mentioned that airlines usually allow passengers to use their points up until the day of departure.

However, when flights are nearly full, seats from miles can be limited. Some airlines also charge close-in booking fees or raise the mileage cost for flights within 30 days,” she said.

In short, booking last-minute flights with points or miles is a viable option and often the best opportunity compared to paying in cash. However, it’s worth noting that this solution may be less effective when applied outside of the United States.

Here are some tips recommended by Nastro and the Going team for similar cases:

1. Airlines typically release special miles seats each year and keep them open for booking until the last minute.
2. The best use of miles or points may not necessarily be with the airline you’re flying but rather with their alliances, such as Star Alliance, Oneworld, or Skyteam. It’s possible that United’s price might actually be cheaper if booked through Air Canada.
3. When flying from smaller airports, you may need to employ some tricks due to seat availability limitations based on miles.
4. To find the best fares, check one airline within each alliance or use websites that check multiple different miles programs.
5. If constantly checking miles flights isn’t realistic for you, there are services that can do it for you, such as the Going website. They will inform you when fares are available along with point details and booking links.

Source : https://travel.detik.com