Two questions that people often ask me is “Where can I find great travel deals?” and “When is the best time to buy an airline ticket?” Although the second question is harder to answer because it’s much more subjective, I certainly have some helpful advice when it comes to where and when you can save money.

Finding a super low price on an airline ticket (or even a mistake!) is getting easier and easier with one of my favorite tools: Twitter. Sure, it primarily serves as a way to keep up with your favorite celebrity and look at people’s selfies, but if you follow the right deal sites and travel bloggers, you’ll never miss a low price. I’ve listed four of my favorites below; if you’re not on Twitter, consider creating an account or if you prefer, you could also stick with visiting their corresponding websites.

• @airfarewatchdog: Tons of tweets about low fares between various city pairs complete with details on eligible travel dates, specific airlines and screenshots of the deals.
• @TheFlightDeal: Similar to Airfare Watchdog, they post ticket prices in both economy and premium classes between large cities. They are also great at finding and publicizing mistakes: last November I purchased a roundtrip ticket from New York to Milan for $132.
• @thepointsguy: One of the leading bloggers on using points to travel (and usually in the comforts of business or first class); he frequently has inside information or is one of the first to post about large credit card sign up bonuses as well.
• @DansDeals: Based in Cleveland, Dan posts primarily about finding cheap airline tickets, maximizing credit card rewards, and loopholes to save money.

Apart from Twitter, I recommend checking out the FlyerTalk forums, specifically the Mileage Run section. It might look like a foreign language of airport abbreviations, ticket booking codes, and CPMs (cost per mile), but if you covet elite status, then this is the place to go. Believe it or not, there are people who buy airline tickets literally just to earn or keep their elite status. They’ll cross the country (or ocean) sitting on a plane for no other reason than to earn miles and then, often on the same day, turn around and go home.

Once you find a good deal, should you buy it? Unfortunately, there is no hard and fast rule for the “best time” to buy a ticket. I often hear people say that Tuesday and Wednesday nights are the best for varying reasons but that’s simply not true. Ditto for early morning or lunch time. Neither is waiting until the last minute or buying 6 months in advance. Here’s what we do know:

• Origin and destination matter: If you’re traveling between New York and Los Angeles, you have a choice between several airlines, most of which fly 6 to 10 times a day coast to coast. In terms of supply and demand, there’s lots of demand and lots of supply so the ticket prices tend to stay consistently the same and can very reasonable. However, if you’re flying from Columbus, Ohio to Albuquerque, New Mexico, I would recommend buying as far in advance as possible. I would also likely assume, based on supply and demand, that the prices will only get more and more expensive as time goes on because the carriers that fly between these two cities have a monopoly on the market.
• Holidays and events make tickets expensive: It shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone that more people travel around holidays, so as a consequence ticket prices usually increase in price. One exception to this is if you’re willing to travel on the actual holiday (i.e. Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day). Also remember that large events, festivals, and celebrations can also increase the demand to get to a location (and on hotel rooms) so be sure to book as far in advance as possible in both scenarios. Although it’s only April, I would start thinking now about November, December, and January holiday travel.
• Weekly sales: Many airlines unload inventory at the last minute in weekly fire sales. United, for example, posts their specials on Monday evenings for travel on the upcoming Saturday with a return on Monday or Tuesday. Sign up with the airline to receive emails with these deals. In my experience, especially with United, some city pairs are consistently on the list so if your plans are flexible, you could pencil in your travel and snatch up something last minute.
• New routes and fare sales: When an airline starts flying to a new city, uses a new plane, increases the frequency of flights, or in general just wants to advertise that they can get you to somewhere fun, they often reduce their prices. And nearly just as often, other airlines will drop their prices and match the initial offer.
• New inventory: I think that the myth that Tuesday and Wednesday nights are the best time to buy airline tickets originates from the fact that many airlines typically load and update their ticket systems in the middle of the week when demand on their servers is lighter. Believe it or not, lots of pricing information is still manually entered by hand into these systems which results in misplaced decimal points, reversed digits, and general computer haywire from time to time. I think odds are more in your favor sticking to a practical means of finding a low price rather than rolling the dice for a mistake on a Tuesday night.
• Kayak: I always consult Kayak before buying a ticket because their search engine is so robust and saves time. You can search across several airlines at once and even with +/- several days. They’ll also show you booking options in which you mix and match airlines for substantial savings. I do recommend that whenever possible, you book your ticket through the actual airline and not through booking agencies like Expedia or Orbitz because it’s easier to deal with the airline directly if your travel changes or is interrupted by weather.
• Discount carriers: One drawback of Kayak’s website is that it doesn’t show every airline, especially the discount carriers like Southwest. Be sure to check their site and other regional discount carriers for their fares. If you’re not sure which airlines you can fly to your destination, search the airport on Wikipedia and take a look at the list of companies that serve the airport and from which origins they fly to that location.
• 24 hour ticket cancellation: Most airlines allow you to fully cancel and refund a ticket within 24 hours of purchase without any penalty. Payment will be refunded in its original form and if you used miles, they will typically be immediately redeposited into your account.  In my experience, this rule works with United, American and Delta, but I always recommend that you check the latest rules for ticket refunds. Here’s the game that you can play: buy your ticket today then check to see if the price drops tomorrow. If it hasn’t, then buy the same ticket again and cancel the previous day’s purchase. Now you just bought yourself another 24 hours. Check the price the following day and follow the same procedure if it’s still the same price. If the price went up, game over; you have the cheapest ticket (for now). If you’re the gambling type, you could cancel your ticket anyway and bet that it might go back down. On the other hand, if the price dropped, congratulations, you just saved some money once you rebook your flight.

The bottom line is that if you find a good deal – which is a relative statement – then buy the ticket and enjoy your trip. Happy hunting!