Whether you are a business person, manic pixie dream girl, or have to deal with a family emergency, you will probably have to book a last-minute plane ticket at some point in your life. And when you need to get somewhere far away on very short notice, you might be wondering, “Are same-day flights cheaper than booking in advance?”

In general, same-day flights are cheaper than booking in advance, but it isn’t always the case.

Sometimes, booking a flight six months in advance might seem like a good idea. You will be prepared for the day you need to travel, flights are cheaper because most people aren’t thinking about their travel plans yet, and perhaps most importantly, you can put it out of your mind. As it turns out, this thought process might be faulty. In many cases, you can actually save money by booking tickets at the last possible minute, a fact that would surely infuriate every dad who ever warned his adult children to book months in advance and get to the airport several days ahead of their departure time, just in case.

When same day flights can be cheaper

There are a few cases when planning ahead could come back and bite you. Here are some situations when same-day flights will actually be advantageous.

• When your company asks you to fly somewhere for work, but you don’t know your itinerary until a week before your flight, you should consider booking a flight after arriving at the airport. If you don’t care when your flight leaves, or how long it takes, you can score tickets at standby prices.
• When the holidays come around, most people have already secured their seats many months in advance. You, however, did not. Flying standby on holiday dates is risky for sure. You might not get a seat. More often than not, however, some people will have plans fall through and miss their flight. This leaves their seat available.
• If an airline has leftover seats, they may offer them to same-day travelers at a discount. Once again, it’s a risky way to travel, but it can pay off in the form of cheap tickets.

Sometimes, same-day flights are more expensive. If you absolutely need to get to a very specific location the same day you are booking your flight, and the flight is filled, you might not get a flight at all. And if it’s a high demand route on a busy travel day, the airline will likely raise the prices as high as they can. If you can’t get a flight on standby, you might end up paying a premium to get where you need to go.

The bottom line is that there is certainly more risk involved in booking a same-day flight. Most of the time though same-day flights are cheaper than booking in advance if you’re willing to fly standby.