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Believe it or not, booking flights can be a fine art if you’re into finding the best price. Finding the right price without breaking your budget can depend on a number of factors.  Some of those can include what time you fly as well as the day of the week.  Below are things to avoid doing and some tips on what should be done to get that reasonable fare.

Don’t book at night

Airlines usually release their inexpensive economy seats during the morning and early afternoon. If you book at night, you risk getting the middle seat leftovers and on many occasions they will be more expensive. Book in the morning or afternoon.

Fly on the weekend

The cheapest days to fly are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. We know most folks prefer to fly in Thursdays or Fridays so they can have their weekend fun. You can always book your vacation from a Tuesday to Tuesday. Those days are also the least traveled days of the week so another benefit is avoiding cramped planes and busy airports.

Don’t depart in the afternoon

Of course you want to sleep in. Don’t we all? However, flying in the afternoon will cost you significantly more money and it’s also the airlines “rush hour” and the most likely time of day when delays happen. Catch the first flight out in the morning or check on red eye flight options.

Loyalty?  

Loyalty to a particular airline really isn’t important unless you want elite status by building up those miles. The airlines have decreased the value of a mile anyway so shop around to the different carriers.

Pesky bag fees

Once you find that cheap ticket it’s very important to check that airlines bag fee policy. For example if you book a $200 ticket on American and will be checking a bag that ticket will be $250. There are airlines that haven’t jumped on the bag fee bandwagon yet, Southwest being one of them.

Don’t Delay

This is important. Many people assume they can find cheap fares a few weeks prior to the day they want to fly. This isn’t always the case. In fact more times than not you will pay more if you wait. Start shopping around at least 30 days prior. Be realistic about it. If you find a $235 fare but feel you can do better if you wait, you’re going to lose that price. Tickets don’t generally get any cheaper.