Expert points out the best time to buy airline tickets and avoid high prices

Tips

Professional also warns that planning is essential

The price of airline tickets, it’s no secret, increases depending on how close you are to the flight. This is a worldwide practice, including Brazil.

Is there a better time to buy tickets? A week before it can be 4 times more expensive.

A survey carried out by the digital corporate travel agency Voll shows that the last month before the flight date records the biggest price increase. The survey was carried out exclusively for UOL.

The ideal period for purchasing would be at least 30 days in advance, according to Luiz Moura, co-founder of Voll and advisor at Fecomercio-SP. A ticket purchased a month before the flight can cost up to four times less than one purchased just a week before the trip.

“For example, a trip on the air shuttle leaving Congonhas Airport, in São Paulo, to Santos Dumont, in Rio de Janeiro, the same air ticket showed, in 2023, an increase of up to 370% if, instead of being purchased 30 days in advance, if it is purchased just six days in advance”,

Luiz Moura, from VOLL.

Also according to the executive, the average value of a ticket issued 30 days in advance in 2023 by the company cost R$346. When purchased one day earlier, this value rose to R$1,626, that is, almost five times the value compared to a month in advance.

The survey was carried out based on 300,000 tickets issued by the company in 2023. In that year, the average advance notice for purchasing tickets through Voll was 22 days.

Trips purchased the day before or on the same day tend to cost even more and were not used in the survey. This is due to the fact that people who travel at short notice really need to do so for whatever reason, and the price would not be an impediment, as in the case of contracts to be closed or emergencies.

Planning is essential

In 2024, there will be a total of seven working day holidays, five of which will be extended. This number is lower than in 2023, when there were ten holidays in total, nine of which were extended.

“When planning, the traveler has time to monitor price variations, which also makes it possible to test different shifts and days when simulating the purchase of airline tickets for the same trip, in case of flexibility”, says Moura.

Another option, according to Voll, is to purchase tickets at airports close to the destination city. As an example, he cites the cities of Londrina and Maringá, which are approximately 100 km away from each other. Occasionally, the price difference between tickets may make the cost of ground transportation viable.

*With information from UOL

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