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Given the superstitious nature of some travellers, are flights cheaper on Friday the 13th?

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I have some anecdotal evidence of this, including a friend who moved countries that day as it was cheaper, and also got married on Friday the 13th(!). However, I am hoping there is a survey, study or statement from a ticketing or airline company on this somewhere as an answer.

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Apparently there seem to be some studies that say that there's a drop in flight inquires (often cited in articles is a study of Jetcost.co.uk that says it drops by something between 24 and 27%). Another study by kayak.com seems to show that the prices are between 5 and 15% lower.

However, I don't know how serious those studies were as I couldn't find the original documents. They might not control for factors like overall drop/increase in flight demand, for instance. Also this is probably an effect that would only affect Western countries, where the superstition around 13 exists and not so much if you were to travel to Asia, for instance.

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  • It would be interesting to see if the same applies to Tuesdays the 13th, since that is a bad luck omen in spanish speaking countries: es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martes_13 – user141 Dec 16 '13 at 16:41
  • I'm guessing there's selective reporting in that. Over two years, there will only be three or four Friday the 13ths. Few people are going to issue a press release about no correlation, or people more willing to fly. – Tom Hawtin - tackline Apr 6 '14 at 19:17
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It might be a bit difficult to define precisely what “cheaper flights” means. If people avoid or postpone trips, Friday the 13th would see a lower number of passengers, all other things being equal. Yield management and pricing in the airline industry being what they are, I suspect quiet days are also days in which people pay less, on average (i.e. the most expensive seats/fares on many flights have not been sold).

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  • You'd have less people wanting to fly, leading to lower prices, leading to more people wanting to fly. The price is where the difference should be more noticeable. – Tom Hawtin - tackline Apr 6 '14 at 19:18

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