A discount travel site (Cheapair.com) did a study on when the best time to purchase a plane ticket to save money is. They analyzed 351,568,000 fares for 1,098,650 international trips in 3,010 international markets in the past year, so they definitely did their research. Here's what they found:
If you're flying from the United States to Canada, CheapAir.com notes that purchasing a ticket 59 days in advance is best. For Mexico and Central America, however, 61 days out is optimum. The Caribbean's best buy time is 76 days in advance; South America is 81; Europe is 99 days; and Africa and the Middle East are both 119 days. CheapAir.com notes that for Asia and the South Pacific, trips are usually best planned around three months in advance; sometimes, though, the best deals can found seven to nine months out.
When it comes to domestic flights in the United States, the "prime booking window" for purchasing a ticket is anything from around three weeks to three and a half months in advance, meaning you have the potential to find a good deal at any point during that period.
So if you're looking to purchase a flight sometime soon, keep those in mind! Click here to read more!