SND Frankfurt is 50 days from today, and it’s time to get all your travel details in order. Register for the conference. Book the hotel. And book that flight. Now, not later
Why now? Because we all know how fluid airline prices are. You can go a little crazy trying to figure out the optimum time to book your flight. Should you hold out for last-minute bargains? The answer is no, and there’s hard data behind that answer.
CheapAir.com crunched their data and came out with a “prime booking window” that gives you the best price. Guess what. We’re in that prime booking window right now. Here’s what CheapAir.com says about when to book a flight.
“… between about one month out and three and a half months out (29 days to 104 days) fares were at their lowest point. We call this period the “prime booking window” where the average fare on each day was within $10 of the lowest fare possible. This is the period where 2013 domestic flights were generally the least expensive and this was usually the best time to buy.”
Don’t try to wait out a lower fare. This happened to me when I booked my flight to the Buenos Aires workshop in 2009. I had a really great price lined up, but felt lucky. I waited a day and that price never came back. For SND Frankfurt, I’ve already booked my flight with Delta from JFK. I paid about $850, and then I got what few extra-legroom seats were still there. Hey, it’s a long flight, so I’m going to splurge.
If I had waited much longer, I’d be crossing the Atlantic in a less desirable seat, to be sure. Frankfurt is an important European hub, so you’re competing with lots of other seasoned, international travelers for a good seat.
So do it now. Get online and book that flight!