Flying to Montana as Cheaply as Possible -When and What City

In the last couple months I have thought a lot about flying in and out of Montana.  I recently visited my sister in Boston, MA and was trying to buy the tickets for the lowest possible price.  A flight is such a large percentage of the cost of most vacations that it is worth doing some research.  I read a great article that explained what day of the week to buy (Tuesday 3pm ET), what day of the week to fly (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays) and how far in advance to buy (about 1 month out).  It used a huge data set from hundreds of thousands of flights and averaged it altogether.  The problem is, it varies from city to city and while that might give you some guidelines you really have to do your own research for your area and where you'd like to fly.  So I did some research for those of you traveling to Montana.

There are so many variables in the equation so I decided to focus on a couple and collect the price points on Kayak.  I looked at flights from Boston, MA to 6 locations in western Montana and flights from Miami, FL to those same locations.   Then I looked at how the price changed depending on how many weeks or months out you were booking.  I may not have used the city you are flying from, but I think the information will give you an idea of how far out to buy and possibly what city to fly into when you visit Montana.

Observations

When flying into Montana from Boston, the further out you book, the lower price you'll pay (in general).  The best prices for every city were between 4 weeks and 4 months.  Kalispell, was the average cheapest place to fly into and Butte was by far the most pricey.

When flying into Montana from Boston, it seemed best to book last minute or book 4 months in advance.  The best prices for every city were booked 4 months in advance.  Missoula and Helena seemed to be the cheapest places to fly into, while Butte, Kalispell and Bozeman seemed to be the most pricey.

Overall, Butte seemed to be the only city that was significantly more expensive than the others and no city had a corner on the cheap tickets.  If you want the best deal and can plan far out, your best bet is to buy 4 months out.  

Controlling for Variables

I had all flights starting and ending on Tuesdays.  As it happened, none of the flights directly coincided with traditional holiday traveling times (or at least the busiest holiday travel times).  Holiday flight information behaves differently.  All flights were booked for 2 adult travelers.  I did not look at total flight time or stops.


Article written by Matt Harrington, marketing specialist at the Best Western Plus Flathead Lake Inn and Suites in Kalispell, MT.  If you're coming to the Flathead, to Kalispell or to Glacier National Park, check out Kalispell's best hotel!