Don't buy your plane tickets on Friday, and other airfare advice from The Wall Street Journal

If you want to snag a good deal on a flight, book early, search on the weekends, and avoid Fridays, says Scott McCartney at The Wall Street Journal. Oh, and cross your fingers: Airlines change their prices for seats several times a day, so "when you see a good price, grab it." A new study by Expedia and the Airlines Reporting Corp. did find some patterns, after analyzing hundreds of millions of flights, starting with this good news: Airfares have been lower in 2015, after years of steady increases, amid dropping oil prices and increased capacity on discount airlines.

But when you buy does matter, statistically speaking. It used to be that Tuesdays were the best day to purchase your plane ticket, and that's still true if you're buying on a weekday (when business travelers shop, and pay more). But your best bet is buying Saturday and Sunday — average prices were 13 percent higher on Friday than on Sunday worldwide, the study found. Also, for domestic U.S. travel, the sweet spot is booking 57 days in advance, or 77 days for flying to the Caribbean, or 176 days if you plan to visit Europe. "That means that right now would be best time to book early summer trips to Europe," McCartney says.

Airlines used to offer discounts at the last minute, but they don't anymore — computers have figured out when to drop prices, and it's weeks before a flight takes off. "It's not like you can show up at the airport with your suitcase and get a ticket for half price," says Patrick Surry, chief data scientist at Hopper, a company that tracks airfares. "The sad truth for consumers is there is no golden rule you can use to beat the airlines." You can read more about how airlines price tickets and the best time to book tickets at The Wall Street Journal or Expedia, or watch the WSJ video below. Peter Weber

The Week

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