“The sweet spot for airlines is somewhere around the nine month mark,” Ratliff said, “that’s when they start looking at their advanced bookings, and if things aren’t trending well, they’ll start throwing out for a few seats on specific flights for some relatively low prices.”
Last minute travelers shouldn’t give up hope. There are good deals for them, too.
“Once they (airlines) reach the six week mark, they kind of panic at that point. If they aren’t seeing advance bookings where they need to be then they will throw out some rather nice deals,” Ratliff said.
Ratliff said he wouldn’t recommend cutting it that close, “but at least it gives people that are planning things kind of toward the last minute, a little bit of solace knowing that there are still some opportunities there.”
The Dayton International Airport has some of the cheapest flights in the region on average, according to the U.S Department of Transportation.
Airport spokeswoman Linda Hughes said the Dayton airport is economical, which helps airlines offer lower cost flights.
“Our hope is that they (airlines) look at that and can pass those savings on to the passengers that fly through here,” Hughes said.
Ratliff recommends consumers search Priceline.com and Orbitz.com for some of the best deals. He noted that low cost airlines, like JetBlue and Southwest, won’t show up on these price comparison sites.
He said if people know they are getting a bargain, jump on it, because too many miss out.
“Unfortunately people see that (good deal), get real excited about it, and then come back a few days later to book it and the seats are long gone,” Ratliff said.