Travel can be expensive if you don’t do your research, but knowing the best day to book your flight can help you save money on your holiday.
And when it comes to finding the cheapest flight, it’s rumoured there’s a ‘best’ day of the week to visit your chosen operator and buy your ticket.
In reality, it’s not that simple. But timing how far in advance you book your plane ticket can lead to a cheaper deal.
Whether you’re searching for winter sun or looking ahead to the summer holidays, many of us will be on the hunt for cheap travel deals that allow us to take a well-earned break on a budget.
Here’s everything you need to know about securing the cheapest flight, from the likes of Skyscanner, Kayak, Jack’s Flight Club and more…
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A well-worn travel legend says that Tuesday is the best day to book flights, because airlines often release sales starting from Monday night or Tuesday morning.
Recent data from Google Flights suggests this may be partly true, with historical prices showing Tuesday to be 1.3% cheaper than the most expensive day to book, Sunday.
But this doesn’t mean booking on a Tuesday guarantees you a good deal and, in reality, there is no cheapest day of the week to book flights.
Airlines use dynamic pricing, which means fares rise and fall according to the number of tickets sold and the time left before departure, making it hard to predict when the cheapest day will be.
However, travel deals website Kayak found that Tuesday may be the cheapest day to travel on, with their latest data showing Tuesday as the day of the week with the cheapest ticket prices for international flights, followed by Wednesday in second place.
Google Flights found similar results, with Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday revealed to be 13% cheaper than flying on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
Booking three to nine months in advance is a good rule of thumb, especially for long-haul trips, and don’t be tempted to wait for last minute deals.
Jack’s Flight Club warns that last minute fares can go way up in price to take advantage of business travellers and others who may need to travel rather than simply want to.
Instead, it’s much more effective to start tracking flight prices several months before you travel by setting up price alerts on comparison sites like Google Flights, Skyscanner and Kayak.
Skyscanner’s Savings Generator tool can help you work out how long before your trip to book, the best day to fly and how much you’ll save by booking at a particular time before your flight.
Jack’s Flight Club explains that, in Europe, budget airlines operate a lot of the same routes. This means flash sales can drop at any moment.
Therefore, you should wait it out for a good deal and book just a couple of months in advance with these airlines.
However, national carriers such as British Airways are more predictable, and usually have short-haul sales a couple of times a year — once in February or March, then again after summer.
This goes hand-in-hand with research from travel operator Ski Vertigo, which found that the sweet spot for booking flights to Europe is around 141 days (or five months) before departure, typically in February.
If you’re planning on whisking yourself away to Paris, Lille, Amsterdam or Brussels via Eurostar, tickets usually go on sale 330 days before departure, and the price remains fairly stable until around 120 days before.
In other words, you should book no later than four months in advance to find the best deal.
Eurostar is very transparent about how to find the best deals, explaining that Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the cheapest days to travel.
Visit the Eurostar website for more information.
According to Ski Vertigo, you should book long-haul flights approximately 178 days (six months) in advance.
Waiting until the last minute to book a long-haul flight is not a good idea, because prices can rise considerably as the departure date approaches.
This is especially true if you are travelling to a particularly popular holiday destination or at a busy time of year, such as during the summer holidays.
There’s unfortunately no exact science to getting a cut-price plane seat, but shopping around and getting in early can give you the edge.
Flight comparison sites can help you find the best deal, but there are plenty of other hacks for getting cheap flights worth trying too.
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