Ever heard that it’s impossible to get last-minute cheap flights? Or that you might risk your flight getting canceled if you choose such a deal? These are all myths, two of many, that arose around last-minute flight tickets. But what’s the truth? Let’s look at this together!
The 3 most common myths about last-minute cheap flights and the truth behind them
Myths can be a true problem — you might be a click away from the vacation of your life, but believing in one of them might prevent you from booking the tickets. That’s why we want to deal with them once and for all. Let’s debunk the most common myths about last-minute cheap flights.
1. Buying flight tickets last minute isn’t cheap
The first myth on our radar is all about ticket prices. Many people believe that you won’t get good deals if you book your flights last minute. After all, the prices often feel unpredictable and even exceedingly high.
Truth:
You can get cheap last-minute flight deals, but it’s not a standard. In general, it’s extremely difficult to predict price changes due to the algorithms used by different airlines. You can estimate price drops based on historical data, but that’s more like informed guessing. Additionally, there are quite a few factors that can affect the prices, like:
- the value of cargo taken on the specific flight,
- the number of tickets sold for the return flight,
- the number of seats left on the plane vs. the general demand.
In general, airlines offer cheap last-minute flights because it brings them profit. It’s better to earn half the ticket price than nothing, right? But it’s all situational, so you can never expect which flights will be cheap.
2. There’s a high risk that your last-minute cheap flight will be canceled
The second myth about cheap last-minute flights is that you risk your flight being canceled — you’ll pay for the hotel, car rental, etc., but you won’t get to your destination. This could make you feel scared to buy tickets at the last minute, but don’t worry — it’s just a myth!
Truth:
There’s little relation between last-minute deals and flight cancellations. Even if there are only a few passengers beside you, it might be worth it for the airline to organize the flight. Why is it so?
- Flights are organized into rotations — usually, it’s the initial flight + the return flight to the base where the airplane is parked. In the end, this means that the whole rotation needs to be profitable, not your single flight. Imagine you travel from London to Madrid. If the flight: Madrid → London is packed, the airline will still earn enough money… plus they need their aircraft in Madrid to make the flight, so they won’t cancel the London → Madrid one.
- Airplanes often transport cargo — this means that it’s still profitable to make the flight, even if there aren’t many passengers.
In such situations, airlines tend to reduce ticket prices and offer cheap last-minute deals, so this doesn’t mean that there’s a risk that your flight will be canceled — it just means that the airline is trying to make some extra cash.
3. You should book last-minute flight tickets in incognito mode
Finally, many people believe that you should book your flights in incognito mode in your browser. The myth is that you might get higher ticket prices if you don’t do so. What’s the truth there?
Truth:
There’s no evidence that airlines use this strategy. What’s more, generally speaking, if you don’t purchase a product or service, the company should encourage you to return to your cart by offering lower prices. This means that if the airlines were to use cookies to impact your flight prices, they would rather lower them to offer you better deals and convince you rather than make you pay more.
The takeaway
We’ve debunked the most common myths about cheap last-minute flights, so you’re ready to book your next trip. Remember to use search engines like Kiwi — it’ll give you a much better overview of the available flights and cheap destinations than when checking on multiple airline websites!
Read More: click here
