Two to seven days for last-minute deals. Welcome to the mad, mad, mad, mad, mad world of airline ticket pricing.
Airlines know the public is willing to pay a pretty penny for the convenience of flying.
This means passengers and airlines are constantly engaged in a game of chicken. Let's say you're planning to visit your parents at Thanksgiving, but you find that the cheapest ticket is 30 percent more than you usually pay. Fortunately, the savvy consumer can make an end-run around the airlines' fickle pricing policies. From consolidators to courier flights, from email sales to online ticketing, we've laid out all your options. If you learn when and where to look for tickets, you might just find yourself flying high at half the cost.