As you're looking for clinics, conferences and competitions to attend in the coming year, you might wonder when's the best time to buy airline tickets?

Bow, Wash., farrier Shane Westman recently shared information on his Farrier Business Facebook Page about strategies to keeping airline costs to a minimum.

The strategies are based on an analysis by Airlines Reporting Corp. of domestic airplane tickets that were bought in advance from January 2013 to July 2014.

The analysis found that the lowest ticket prices were seen between 50 and 100 days prior to departures.

"Ticket prices sold during this period have averaged approximately $85 less than the overall average ticket price," according to the analysis. "Overall, the lowest average ticket price can be found 57 days in advance."

Don't just buy a ticket any day of the week during that period of time, though.

"Average ticket prices also fluctuate by day of the week purchased," the analysis states. "The lowest average prices occur on Sunday. The highest average ticket prices are seen on Mondays and Fridays when there is a high percentage of business travel activity."

When buying airline tickets on Sunday during the 50 to 100 days before traveling, you'll typically pay $110 less than the overall average ticket price. In fact, it's still cheaper to buy tickets on Sunday when it is outside the 50-to-100-day window. You can still save about $50 on the overall average.

Be sure to check out the American Farriers Journal Events & Competitions page for upcoming clinics, certification exams and forging contests. If you would like to submit your event to be listed free on our website and within the pages of AFJ, please email the following to Jaime Elftman at jelftman@lesspub.com: event's name, date(s), sponsor(s), clinician(s) and/or judge(s), location, contact's name, phone number and email address.

 

Do you have a helpful tip that you would like to share with your fellow farriers? Please send it to Jeff Cota at jcota@lesspub.com. If we use your tip, we'll send you a free shirt.