Are you looking for a cheap flight to New York to discover the “Big Apple” but wondering when to go to New York and how to pay less for your flight?
Aren’t the flights you are looking at too expensive? Don’t worry, these are legitimate questions and many of you have asked us to help you find a cheap New York flight.
When to book your flight to New York?
To answer this question, you first need to know that all airlines practice “Yield Management” and now you’re thinking what’s that? The aim of Yield Management is to optimise the aircraft’s load factor and turnover.
To do this, the airlines companies adjust the price of the flight to New York every day according to the occupancy rate of the aircraft. This is one of the reasons why you can find cheap flights on the old days if the plane is not full.
However, you can be sure when you board that not all passengers have paid the same fare. Airlines raise and lower prices to maximise capacity.
Your chance of getting to New York is that there are a lot of flights, so it takes longer to fill up than other destinations with few airlines and few flights, which sometimes require booking a year in advance.
OK, but when do I book my flight? I know you’re anxious to read the answer, but it’s important to understand how it works so that we can give you the right answer.
In the low season (outside of school holidays), there is less demand than supply, so we recommend that you wait 3 to 4 months before your departure to take advantage of the promotional offers. In 90% of cases, you will see cheaper flights from the fourth month before departure and then promotions. Check the prices daily, they vary from day to day, read the conditions of the promotions carefully! They are generally non-refundable and non-modifiable!
In the high season, there is a lot more demand and it is therefore more risky to book your flight 4 months before departure. So if you are planning your first trip to New York and you are not an adventurer, we advise you to look at flight prices daily 8 months before you leave.
From the twelfth to the eighth month before your departure, airlines will try to sell full-fare flights with sales pitches such as “Only 4 seats left”, etc. In the eighth month, you may notice a drop in the price of the ticket if the plane is not full. It is advisable not to delay, because if the plane is full, the price will go up!
Despite this advice, the best way is to use meta-comparators which will compare prices from all airlines. The comparators allow you to avoid the airlines companies storing cookies on your computer to increase the price on your second visit. Below you can see the prices offered by Skyscanner, which is one of the most complete because of the many airlines it aggregates.
Is a cheap flight to New York possible?
This is the second question we are asked the most. The answer is YES, BUT you have to accept to leave at times that are not necessarily those you had planned.
If we analyse the price history over the last 12 months from Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Nice, we notice that the cheapest flights from Paris, Marseille and Nice were in January and February.
From Lyon, we can see that prices were fairly stable from October to February. All the curves show us that prices during the summer months soar and that there is a peak in March linked to the school holidays.
In the curve below, here is a price forecast for the next 6 months. Be careful, the forecast is made on September 17th and the prices will evolve over time, but we can see that the tickets are more expensive for the Christmas holidays and then they go down again in mid-January (mid-January is in 4 months and it’s low season, the theory seen at the beginning is confirmed).
If you want to buy tickets for the beginning of February, it is advisable to wait another fortnight to get a cheap flight to New York. However, prices should not change much after 15 February due to the school holidays.
We hope we have helped you find the cheapest flights and if you have any questions, please leave us a comment. Enjoy your flight.
