Airline expert reveals the secret to booking cheap flight tickets

An airline expert has revealed the secret to booking cheap flight tickets and no, it isn’t ‘book in advance’.

A number of travel-booking sites will tell users the best times to book but the key, says airline expert Tim Lyon, is not the time you book but the time you fly.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Mr Lyon said the best approach is to try and ‘avoid high demand’ by flying at times of the day and year when there are less people travelling.

Airlines tend to determine ticket price by demand and by the number of seats being sold.

‘In the end, the seats are going to fly, and what revenue management does is put the most revenue on the plane, regardless of cost,’ he said.

Airlines can change the cost of a ticket several times in a day.

If they need seats filled, they’re likely to cut the price.

Mr Lyon also says that the distance is worth taking into account when trying to find a cheap ticket.

‘Once you get away from [short routes], it migrates into absolute demand,’ he said.

Credit: METRO