So there you were, at this dinner party. And after that lawyer had stopped talking about how his house had doubled in value in less than two years, someone mentioned the $500 ticket to Europe.

Yes, that’s right, the one that’s going to be available during the Olympics. You know. All those planes will be flying in full, and to make sure they don’t fly out empty the airlines will be offering these incredibly cheap fares. Well, anyway, that was the theory.

Just as well there was no-one from the airline industry at the table. Might have been a bit of a dampener. Not that the airline types simply dismiss the super cheap flights theory. But they don’t encourage it too much either. And nobody agrees as the Herald found.

Qantas had no comment. Ansett thought the lower fares “quite possible”. United was “not anticipating special pricing”. Air New Zealand didn’t think it worth returning the call. And the Olympic Commerce Centre in Sydney had “not researched the idea at all”.

The London office of cheap flight specialist UK Flight Shop reckoned it “quite possible . . . airlines will offer special fares” while local operator Flight Centre thought the whole notion was no better than “an urban myth” and no-one would know if it would become reality “until six months out” from the Games.

Tourism industry types question the basic premise of the argument: the idea of an enormous influx at the start of the Games and a big outflow as they finish.

They say traffic over the course of the Games – from September 15 to October 1 – will be spread more evenly. People won’t come for the full duration of the Olympics. They’ll spend maybe a week in Sydney, take in their favorite events and move on.

Many will want to go elsewhere in Australia. Some will arrive well before the Games, others will leave well after. All of which will tend to even out the peaks and lows of Olympic traffic.

But there are encouraging precedents. Ansett noted that events like the Melbourne Cup and the AFL Grand Final sparked discount fares to improve “backloading”.

And there was discounting in Atlanta during the 1996 Games, according to Delta Airlines, which is based in the former Olympic city. But it was limited, said Delta spokesman Mr. Bill Berry, and mostly for travel within an 800-kilometer radius of Atlanta.

“However, there’s always discount pricing here. We have a fare war going every other day,” he said.

UK Flight Shop believes the Games may bring forward to September the Australian October-November low season to the UK and Europe.

Do international flights go down in price?

Generally, if the demand for international flight tickets does not reach a certain point the prices of the ticket remain low. Therefore, it is advised to avoid traveling at the starting of the week.

Traveling internationally on-air in mid-weekdays must be profitable for the customers.

Click here to book a cheap flight ticket.