Don’t Change Your Airline Ticket This Day of the Week if You Want to Save Money

Between flight delays and cancellations, you may hesitate to add more confusion to air travel by changing your flight. But sometimes, changes can work to your benefit.

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For instance, if radar maps are predicting bad weather for your flight and you have some flexibility regarding when you fly, you might want to considering changing your flight if you can do it for free. Sometimes, your plans change and you need to move your flight.

How can you change a flight without paying a fortune?

First, understand this: If your flight is delayed by the airline — regardless of the reason — they should book you on another flight at no additional cost. The same goes for any connections you might miss as a result of the delay.

But what if you want to change your flight just because of a change in plans? Some airlines allow rescheduling without fees for certain tiers of tickets, or for members of their frequent flyer program. For basic economy tickets at many airlines, you may not be able to change your flight at all.

Which U.S. Airlines Charge Change Fees?

It can be helpful to research the fees your airline charges and how to avoid them. Popular U.S.-based airlines like Delta, United, and American do not charge any change fees for domestic flights or international flights originating in the U.S. You can’t change or cancel basic economy tickets, though.

Here are the latest policies for some of the budget U.S. carriers.

Southwest Airlines

Southwest is one of the few budget carriers to allow free changes.

Frontier

Frontier doesn’t charge change fees as long as you make the change more than 60 days from your flight. Make the change on day 50 up to day 7 and you’ll pay $49. If you wait until less than seven days before your flight, you’ll pay $99.

JetBlue

JetBlue waives change fees for Mosaic elite members, but everyone else will pay $25 for changes made over the phone. Same-day flight changes cost $75.

Spirit Airlines

Like Frontier, Spirit allows changes if you make the switch up to 60 days before your flight. Change between 59 days and 31 days and pay $69. Change from 30 days up to one week before your flight and pay $99. Anything sooner, and you’ll have to pay $119.

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What Day Of The Week Should You Change Your Flight?

Once you know your airlines’ policies to avoid fees, you’ll still want to get the best deal when you switch your flight. Most airlines charge for any price difference between your current flight and your new flight.

With this in mind, you might be wondering about the best day to book a flight. For years, travel websites and travel experts said Tuesday was the best day to find a cheap flight.

But recent statistics from a variety of travel booking websites contest this assumption. You can find cheap flights nearly any day of the week.

However, data from Hopper revealed that, on average, domestic flights tend to be cheapest on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Research from Google, reported by Forbes, supported this data. Google’s study found that Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays all tend to be cheaper than weekend flights.

If you have a choice between flying on Saturday and Sunday, according to Hopper data, switch your flight to a Saturday for the best odds of finding a good deal.

In today’s world of online travel booking, finding the best deal isn’t so much about the date you book your flight as when you actually travel. As Google’s study indicated: “There isn’t much value in purchasing your tickets on a certain day of the week.”

If you can be flexible about your travel dates, you can look for the cheapest flights within that time span. It’s also a good idea to set alerts if the price drops for the flight you want.

And if your heart is set on flying on a Sunday, know that most research has shown it’s the most expensive day to fly.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Don’t Change Your Airline Ticket This Day of the Week if You Want to Save Money