Today, I'd like to address the topic of “last-minute” flight tickets. Do they really exist, or is it just a marketing ploy? And if they do, where can you buy them?
What are last-minute flight tickets?
In the understanding of an ordinary person, these are
tickets at very low prices. But in reality, this is not the only distinguishing feature of last-minute flight tickets.
Let's break it down in order...
“Last-minute” means it's about to disappear, i.e., in the case of flight tickets
it's a ticket for the nearest flight.
Most of you believe that if an airline doesn't sell such a ticket, it will lose money because the seat will fly empty. But in reality, that's not the case.
Airline pricing is quite
complex and convoluted. But know one thing – if there are empty seats left on a flight before departure, the airline won't be upset about not selling those tickets. It will never lower prices; what it will definitely do is increase their price.
Here's a look:
| Destination |
price 2 weeks before departure |
7 days before |
1 day before |
| Moscow-Berlin |
4,389 RUB |
4,767 RUB |
8,971 RUB |
These are the lowest prices for a one-way Moscow-Berlin flight. As you can see, the more “last-minute” a ticket becomes, the higher its price.
Where did these “last-minute flight tickets” come from?
The term itself originated from travel agencies, or more precisely, tour operators. They are strictly tied to specific tour dates and, as a rule, pay for hotels and airplane seats in advance, not as tours are sold. Therefore, they genuinely lose money if a tour isn't purchased. The only chance to sell it literally on the eve of the flight's departure is to significantly reduce the price.
If there's little chance of selling a tour, the tour operator might split the package and sell, for example, only a flight ticket for a
charter flight.
Only for a charter can you buy a “last-minute” flight ticket. Unfortunately, charters are seasonal flights and mainly fly to popular resorts. If you need, for example, a ticket to Paris, you can only buy it for a regular airline flight, which means you can forget about “last-minute” offers.
But you always have the option to
buy a flight ticket on Kupi.com on promotion.
Where to buy last-minute flight tickets?
There can be two options here:
- Contact a travel agency.
- Buy online on websites that sell charters, for example, at www.chartex.ru.
