Last minute flight bookings - better to book online or at the airport?
We had a question here earlier on booking flight tickets in the weeks running up to holiday season, which covered ground on what happens to flight prices over the period.
What I'm interested to know is if I had to fly out at short notice, say within 1-2 days, then am I better off booking within that 1-2 day gap online, or am I better off trying my luck directly at the airport (as long as I'm willing to wait at the airport) for a cheaper price? Is there any truth to rumours that airlines sell tickets at cheaper prices at the airport right before flights to fill empty seats or is that a myth?
Best Answer
For last minute bookings buy opaque tickets online! There are a few sites for this like hotwire.com and priceline.com
For what I know, airlines don't sell tickets at cheaper prices at the airport right before flights as they did years ago, because that would encourage the passengers to have this behavior. But selling opaque is a win-win situation: it fills the empty seats while somehow avoids this problem!
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Are flights cheaper last minute at the airport?
Is it cheaper to book a flight at the last minute? We've said this before, but it's worth repeating at the outset\u2014no, it's really not cheaper to book a flight at the last minute. Yes, last minute travelers used to score the occasional fare so low it might have induced shock, but that's no longer the case.Is it better to book flights ahead of time or last minute?
Specifically, plane tickets usually don't get cheaper closer to the departure date. Instead, flights tend to be the most inexpensive when you book between four months and three weeks before your departure date. According to the CheapAir.com 2019 Annual Airfare Study, you can expect rates to go up after that period.What is the best way to book last minute flights?
How to get cheap last-minute flight dealsCan you just show up at the airport and get a cheap flight?
Can you simply show up at the airport without a ticket and expect to get somewhere for cheap? The short answer is no. Airlines no longer allow you to wait around at the counter in hopes of snagging a "standby flight" and filling the last seat of a departing flight.Best Cheap Flights Websites NOBODY is Talking About | How to Find Cheap Flights 2022
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Answer 2
Oh online! I mean, it depends how much time you have, but even when I flew into Dusseldorf last year, I trained to Cologne, hopped on a net cafe terminal and found a cheap flight from Cologne to London for that evening.
I've heard of upgrades at the airport, and certainly you can buy and change tickets, but I've yet to hear of anyone claim that they're cheaper. I do wish that The Amazing Race would show the prices they get when competitors manage to buy tickets at the counter, however :/
Answer 3
We recently missed a leg of our trip when our son slipped on a restroom staircase at Copenhagen airport and injured his knee. He was sent to the nearest hospital where he was treated.
By the time we got back to the airport, needless to say we missed our connecting flight. It was a no frills flight with no insurance. Thus we checked counter to counter of 4 different airlines for any opportune no-shows. After 12 hours of searching and waiting, no luck. We finally got a break from the manager of the original airline of the missed flight but not much.
From our personal experience, I would not recommend relying on no-shows at the ticket counter for last minute flights.
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