First, book early, and by early I mean if possible, three hundred and thirty days before the departure date because that’s when the airlines make seats available in their reservation systems.
So, obviously, if you’re first in line, and there are maybe two or three seats available on a particular flight, you have a better chance of actually getting one of those few available seats.
At the other end of the spectrum is the ‘book late’ approach, and in this context booking late means booking within, say, fourteen days of the departure date, because ... the airline’s software knows whether that particular flight that you’re interested in is going to sell out to paying passengers ... .
If it’s not going to sell out, then the airline, as a general rule, will tend to make more award seats available.
Author Email: winship@earthlink.net
Tim Winship
SmarterTravel.com
Editor-at-Large, SmarterTravel.com
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