Low cost last minute flights are possible providing that
you can be a little flexible with the flying times and
choice of airlines. Many people think that it is easy to
get last minute flight deals because the airlines would
prefer to sell any vacant seats cheap instead of flying
with a no profit empty seat but unfortunately this is
not the case. The airlines will release cheap seats on
all flights when they first come onto the open market
but this means you may have to book well in advance
which is not the ideal situation for many of us.
If you have ever tried to buy a low cost last minute
flight ticket then you will know how difficult it is to
get cheaper airfare deals. This is because you are
restricted with your time which means you have little
room for negotiation. Many passengers of made the
mistake of arriving at the departure airport three hours
before the flight departs and expect to get a cheap
flight ticket from the airlines desk in the arrivals
hall. You can buy tickets in this manner but never
expect a discount.
Other passengers think that the airlines sell off all
the vacant seats a few days before the flight departs,
but this is not the case. The airlines will gladly take
a hit of a few empty seats providing that the flight is
almost full. This means they have already made a profit
on the flight because the seats have been available in
the public domain for many months. Depending on the
schedule this could have been as many as 5-6 months ago.
During this time all the low cost flight seats have been
taken and the balance have been booked by people who are
not that too concerned about flying on cheaper tickets.
The last situation the airlines would want is word
being passed around the grapevine that they sell all the
tickets off cheap on the last minute. This would case
chaos to their business because a vast majority of
people, especially the ones that normally book well in
advance to get cheaper tickets would just hang fire.
They would patiently wait until a few days before and
then grab a low cost last minute flight. The airlines
could never run a business on this model. They want the
flight tickets to be sold as much in advance as possible
so that they have complete control over the situation.
