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The other day I overhead a conversation about an airline ticket issue.  Several well traveled women discussed which was the best day to book airfares. Everyone likes to think they are going to get the deal. Only airlines have the key to that mystery. These women knew ‘nada’ in reality.

What is true, what is a mystery and what is a fraud?

The day to book your airfare is the day you decide to go. Waiting and checking daily is a waste of time. Some experts advise a delay until 1-3 months pre departure. Do that and you risk losing your favorite seats or flight time. Fares change based on algorithms and booking patterns and the day of the week. Expedia AirHacks says  Fridays or early in the week are usually cheaper than Sundays (not on holiday weekends). Why? Business people leave  Sundays to be in the office Monday.  https://www.expedia.com/see/airhacks

Fares also change as airlines track you. As an experiment, I looked at fares to Mexico City from JFK as I go to Ixtapan Resort with groups. This is a monopoly route with only Delta and AeroMexico flying it-they are partner airlines. I got different prices as I clicked on the Delta app from my phone, then from my iPad, then from a computer all  on a Chrome browser. Then same experience and different costing from all 3 on Safari. Airlines increase your cost each time you return to their sites. What to do? Erase cookies, and or use a separate device. Hating these surcharges will not help you.

Unless you have a Phd in Math from MIT  and work in quantification marketing at an airline,  you are likely to save little or nothing by waiting. Do change your browser at the very least.

Your seat is guaranteed. Nope. If your flight changes aircraft, your seat might be different. Airlines change aircraft due to passenger load, mechanical issues, and the fact that they  move planes around the system. Once your aircraft and seat change, check that your class of seat did not change.  My seat was changed from a premium type economy to economy on a flight London to Miami. I tried to sit in my original area but was aggressively bounced to the back of the plane.  During the flight my partner and I continued to insist we had an upgrade.. The purser is your go-to-complaint staff.  The Purser  asked for payment proof. Who carries around credit card receipts?  Mid flight she came back and admitted the error. Now here is the next chapter: I wrote to America Airlines; they responded we would receive refunds in 6-8 weeks.  Here is my second email paraphrased and updated:

Thank you for the expected refund of $200 in 6-8 weeks.   American has liquidity of $7+ billion. I pay debts immediately, and do not have $7 billion in the bank. Pls refund promptly.  And they did.

A window seat has a window. Nope. There is a little known glitch.   Boeing 737s, 757 and Airbus A321 on Delta and United have seats usually seat A or F which face a wall. If this is night time you might like a wall. If not, watch ongoing lawsuits…that is if you have nothing else to do with your life.

Finally I just interviewed Grant from https://www.mypoints4travel.com He opened my eyes to which travel credit card is best, and how to snag frequent flier seats that are not obvious. He has a full team who work on these subjects, so again don’t think you will solve it yourself. Here is one easy example he shared with me.

Today on Forbes, Chase Sapphire Reserve gives new card holders 100,000 miles. If you are a Chase customer you pay only $95. So multiply that by a few more new cards and you just earned a first class ff ticket to Europe.

Happy Traveling.