An assessment of its database of airfares to review price changes over the last month done by Cheapflights.com has indicated that average airfares are down on almost half of routes with new prices.

Published: 19 Oct 2010

An assessment of its database of airfares to review price changes over the last month done by Cheapflights.com has indicated that average airfares are down on almost half of routes with new prices.

By comparing the prices listed on individual routes for flights on sale September 11, 2010, versus on October 11, 2010, Cheapflights.com found 796 instances where the average airfare had changed. The average airfare was down on 390 routes, or 49% of the total, and up on 406 routes, or 51% of the total.

Cheapflights.com also looked at the 100 most popular routes in the database and saw that the pattern didn’t shift much either. Of the 100 routes, 86 had changes in the average airfare, with 55% (47 routes) increasing and 45% (39 routes) decreasing.

Cheapflights.com has prepared some tips for surviving the holiday travel season:

• Schedule morning flights -- Booking the first flight of the day means you're less likely to deal with delays and hectic situations at the airport. Without a doubt, avoid booking the last flight of the day -- if it gets cancelled, you might get stranded.

• Stay healthy – You’ll need to think on your feet when it comes to making last-minute travel decisions -- the last thing you want to be is sick.

• Prepare a sanity carry-on

• Leave earlier than you think you should