A flight to New York is not going to be much cheaper on Tuesday than it will be on Wednesday.
But according to Scott Keyes, a reporter for Think Progress and author of the e-books "How To Fly For Free" and "How To Find Cheap Flights," there might not be cheaper days to buy, but there are cheaper days to fly.
"The cheapest days to fly are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday," Keyes told Business Insider. "If you have any flexibility in being able to fly on those days, that's usually when you're going to find the best fares."
To find cheaper flights, check websites like ITA Matrix and Kayak, which have interfaces that allow users to search for the best fares during an entire month.
With these tools, travelers can see not only that flying in certain weeks will be cheaper, but also the price difference between flying on Friday versus Thursday.
Keyes added that people would be shocked to see how much money they can save by simply pushing their flight back by a few hours.
"My friend George flew out to Vegas and was looking at prices that were around $500 for a round trip from DC to Vegas," Keyes told Business Insider. "I looked at what would happen if he came back on Monday morning instead of Sunday out of curiosity and it turns out there was a flight leaving at 12:50 a.m. on Monday. George was planning to fly back late on Sunday night, but by essentially leaving a few hours later, he cut the price in half."
Just by switching dates from Friday to Thursday, or Sunday to Saturday, fliers can save hundreds if they're simply willing to be flexible - a key, Keyes insisted, to finding affordable airfare.
'Toy with the dates a little bit and just see what comes up," he said. "Even just shifting it by a day or two can really, really help."
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