Which Way To Go Math 12 January 2016 Exemplar Project shared by Mr. ABCD Happy School of Halifax

What I did for my project For my project I have chosen the topic which day(s) are the least expensive to fly with either Air Canada or West Jet. I have chosen a one way route and focused on morning flights from Halifax to Edmonton for the collecting part of my data. The data that I collected was for a ten week time span that I chose to do and recorded how much each flight was. I searched for both airlines via calendars of the flights and the prices.

What Math is involved? The Math that was involved in this project was calculating the averages for each week and in day over the ten weeks. Making up the data tables and graphs was also included.

Introduction Throughout this presentation I will be discussing how an individual should plan for booking a flight if it is already planned, such as going out West for work or family vacations. There is a lot of criteria when trying to figure out what airline you are going to choose when you are booking a flight. Items to think about when reading this presentation is that the data was all collected on the same day but, the flights do not occur at the same time. They are however, all morning flights.

Air Canada This table shows the price for the ten weeks that I have researched. This Information was all collected on the 8th of December

Westjet This table shows the prices that Westjet has to offer during the ten weeks that were chosen. You may notice that most of the prices fall in the same price range This data was also collected on the 8th of December

Average for each day of the week This table shows that average price for each of the days during the time period chosen for this study.

Averages The averages were calculated by adding Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday Then Divided it all by seven The last column suggests who to travel with that week

Graph to show the trend in the weekly averages

Graph to show the trend for the daily averages

What I was Thinking During this process…. During this project there were many things you could think about such as: is there actually a better air carrier to go with? Why are both air carries around the same price? I felt this study was a useful because my dad travelled for three years and they were always having trouble deciding which air carrier to go with for his flights to and from.

This Project was NOT bias ➢ I do not feel this was a biased project. ➢ The topic I have chosen which day is the cheapest to fly on. There are many parameters I set up so that the data would not be skewed. Such as: ○ I made each flight one way from Halifax to Edmonton ○ I have picked the flights around the same time in the morning ○ I made sure I did not use a morning flight for one air carrier and an evening flight for the other air carrier.

Issues that could come out of this There are a few issues that could come out of this information. The main issues that came to my mind while i was doing this project was: If a seat sale arose, how would that skew the data and the averages? What about taxes and add-ons? How much for extra luggage? What is there is a third competing airline? Promotion codes handed out to special customers and how that would affect seat prices Promotion codes in general Last minute flights vs. planned flights, are there any discrepancies in prices depending when you book Booking times of the day, such as booking a morning flight in the evening vs in the morning or afternoon

Things to Consider when choosing a flight ● Price ● Price comes first for many travellers, however it is always wise to consider the following nine factors before making the decision of buying a certain ticket. ● I have seen many cases where booking a ticket based solely on price ended up costing more with add-ons, changes and baggage fees. ●Number Of Stops Considering the price difference versus the number of stops on an itinerary is a good way to look at the value of a ticket. Is it worth it for you to have to connect 2 times before getting to your destination just to save a few bucks? It might be for some people and it might not be for others.

Things to consider when choosing a flight Baggage Allowance As airlines continue to find additional streams of income to manage their costs, more and more airlines are charging fees for a second bag or even for every single piece of luggage. If you are going to be travelling to exhibit at a tradeshow, you will probably have some material, banners and brochures that could fill several extra pieces of luggage. In this case, going for a slightly more expensive fare that includes more baggage allowance could end up being more cost effective overall Flight Time I am not a morning person. I would pay more just to not have to wake up early to go to the airport. You might be a morning person or a night owl, or it could be just that you need to be at your destination by a certain time of the day. Always keep the flight times in mind when picking an air line, although in many cases, as a result of bad weather conditions, there could be flight delays that would change those times for you.

Thing to consider when choosing a flight Connecting Times How long are you willing to wait an airport? It is not uncommon for flights to have long transit times of anywhere between 6-10 hours. Other flight could have a very short transit time that could lead to you missing your second flight if your first flight was delayed for any reason. Putting transit times into consideration when you are planning a trip will ensure that you have both an enjoyable and a cost efficient flight. Switching Planes This is related to the previous point. Some stops requires you to switch planes and some do not. A stop where you do not have to switch planes could be less of hassle and a more convenient choice for many people.

Things to consider when picking a flight Switching Airports Some flight itineraries will stop in a city and require you to take your next plane from another airport within the city. Example:

What did other people say when to pick a flight Looking Through what people have said on the internet and in comparison to what I had I feel I really depends on what site you look at. Here are links that examine when it is best to book flights: Huffington Post: flight_n_ htmlhttp:// flight_n_ html Cheap Air: based-on-1-5-billion-airfares/ based-on-1-5-billion-airfares/ Forbes Magazine: days-to-book-flights-are-tuesdays days-before-travel-expedia-study- concludes/ days-to-book-flights-are-tuesdays days-before-travel-expedia-study- concludes/

Conclusion In conclusion, it does come down to preference. The last several factors that were presented are other reasons to look at an airline not just through price. I believe that my data has presented a reasonable window in which to book flights through the two major airlines that travel in Canada based upon price. I chose to focus on price, because that tends to be the main concern for travellers, especially when they need to travel for work. Therefore, I will let the data speak for itself and the reader as well as myself can determine when it is best to fly between Halifax and Edmonton based upon the collected data.

Sources "Flights - Expedia.ca." Dec "WestJet, WestJet Vacations | Airline Tickets, Seat Sales..." 18 Dec "Air Canada - Official Website: Flights, Airline Tickets, Airfare..." Dec