Traveling on last-minute flight tickets is great for someone who might have dynamic travel plans, sudden pop-up opportunities to get away, or simply just don't want to buy tickets until they are leaving in a relatively short amount of time. However, it comes with one very large problem, the prices for booking last-minute trips are normally through the roof. I've seen last-minute tickets go for double, triple, and even up to 4 times the price I paid when booking a flight a month or two in advance. However, there is a strategy to combat this, and I'll tell you just how to do it based on what has worked for me in the past. 

Early Morning/Late Night Itineraries

Flying early and/or late is not the most pleasant experience for a traveler, requiring early wake-ups or long nights, but this is where low prices come into play. Because fewer people want to be awake at these undesirable hours of the day, flights tend to be more empty. Less full flights lead to airlines keeping prices lower for a longer period in hopes of filling the seats.

This strategy can be a bit tricky, as depending on where you are and where you're going, it can be hard to find a good itinerary to maximize the odds of a cheap last-minute flight. Smaller airports suffer from this problem the most, as their lower frequency service can render *usually* just a single early morning flight, and nothing in the late evening hours. 

Checking Prices Between 36 and 25 Hours Before Departure 

The last 12 hours before check-in is usually when airlines try to make their last-ditch efforts to fill up the plane before customers begin checking in at the T-24 hour mark. Once check-in begins, complimentary upgrades and non-revenue passengers can begin to process on the flight, resulting in lost revenue possibilities for the airline. They would much rather make $150 for a last-minute first-class purchase than a customer who gets the seat upgrade for free.