When is the cheapest time to book a flight : tips for saving money on your next trip home

Why should you book your flight early?

Booking for flights opens as early as 11 months in advance. But booking flights more than six months in advance would be costly. Airlines use a dynamic pricing model, which means that as the day of the flight nears and the available tickets begin to decrease, the price goes up for every seat. Most airlines usually set high conservative prices for their seats when booking opens, which fluctuates with demand and time. But as little as two weeks from the day of the flight, demand rises as more and more people opt for last-minute flights, and so do the prices until it reaches their maximum point in the last few days. It’s no surprise that buying at the peak is exponentially high compared to the lowest price for every flight.

Book your flight early so you have plenty of time to observe the price pattern and try out different dates to see the lowest and highest prices for any particular journey. Some aggregator websites such as Kayak, Skyscanner, and Google flights tell you what usually are the reasonable prices for these flights. They also have helpful tools to help you check dates, track prices and try variations with different airlines. A 2022 study by cheapair.com found that on average the best time to buy flight tickets is 76 days before the day of the take off.

What is the cheapest day to book flights?

It is said that Tuesday is the best day of the week to buy a flight ticket. It’s a tale told by family, friends, and frequent flyers. But it turns out that after analysing years of data, Google concluded that the difference might lie in a few dollars. And it would be the same for any mid-day of the week, whether it’s Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. The question, therefore, may be what are the most expensive days to book tickets, which comes out unequivocally as the weekend. Buying tickets on Saturday and Sunday, when everyone is on their computers doing the same, will be expensive for your wallet.

What is the cheapest time of the day to book flights?

The rule of thumb established in the topics above is that when more people book and search for flight tickets for a particular journey, the price increases. Following this rule, if late mornings and after work hours were the times when people plan their travel, prices would be high in those times. By extension, early mornings and late nights would be the times when flight prices would be cheaper..

What is the cheapest month to book flights?

No other month is affected by which month you book more than the flights in July. The summer season requires travellers to book international flights up to 6 months before departure. It’s due to school holidays,. travel plans by people in colder regions, ample long weekends, and more. But the cheapest month to book tickets varies depending on the season you want to fly out. For the summer months of June to August, it would be six months before, as mentioned above. But for winter months, it may be less than one month, so flying in December will require you to wait until October or November to book your flight. This data also varies as per the country you want to fly in and out from.

When to book flights for Domestic vs. International travel

For domestic travel, the appropriate time for economical flight prices is anywhere between 121 and 75 days before departure. But this number increases if you’re looking to fly during local festivals when many other people also plan to travel.

Internationally, this duration can range from 6 months before departure to 1 month before departure. Specifically, consider how many immigrants are flying into their home country from their country of travel or vice versa. Significant events include summer and Christmas holidays; when consecutive days are taken off in western countries, more people tend to travel, so tickets tend to surge earlier in their booking schedules.

The one essential rule is to avoid travel in peak holiday times, which includes summer holidays and festivals in both your take-off and destination countries.

Tips for finding the best times to book cheap flights

• No non-stop: Pick up flights with 1 or 2 stops on long journeys. These flights are cheaper than the usual no-stop fare.

• Don't plan too far ahead: Booking plane tickets more than six months early is seldom profitable. Plan your bookings like you plan your travel, with considerable time between things.

• No last-minute travel: Try to plan ahead and only book flights less than three weeks from departure if it's urgent, as they’re pretty expensive.

• Best of both worlds: Most booking websites combine flight and hotel bookings, which offer reasonable rates and great discounts. Try these combos to get better prices on your travels abroad.

• Keep changing: Be flexible in where you book your flights. Something that has worked for you in the past may be out-dated now as a provider, and each provider must have a specific best time to book, especially if you're booking directly with the airlines.

If you want to find how to get the cheapest flights, go to WorldRemit’s blog for more information.

We hope this guide provides insight into when to book your flight for the lowest price available. Often even after our best efforts, travelling back home can still be expensive. Thankfully, there are plenty of other ways to show your love to your family and friends. You could send them something special at festivals, a little money to lend a helping hand, or simply to remind them that you're thinking of them. If you have a friend or a family member living abroad, you can send them money using the WorldRemit app or website. With just a few simple steps, your money will be with your loved ones.

Send money now

Disclaimer: The contents of this blog post do not constitute legal or financial advice and are provided for general information purposes only. If you require specific legal and/or financial advice you should contact a specialist lawyer or financial advisor. Information is true at the time of publishing.