The Best Day to Score Cheap Flights — and When to Book to Avoid Cancellations, According to New Data (2024)

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The Best Day to Score Cheap Flights — and When to Book to Avoid Cancellations, According to New Data? ›

Sunday has been the best day of the week to book flights since before 2020. Another study done by Google found that flight prices on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays were 1.9% cheaper on average than flights on Saturdays and Sundays.

As previously mentioned, booking airfare on Sunday is cheaper than other days of the week, especially Fridays. Be willing to fly mid-week. Since Thursdays tend to be the cheapest day to fly, see if you can tweak your travel plans so you depart and fly home during the week instead of on weekend days. Set price alerts.

Tuesdays may not be favorable for booking, but if you're hoping to score major savings, booking your departure on a Tuesday or Wednesday is a surefire way to do so. Mid-week flights offer the best deal prices in comparison to flights departing the rest of the week.

According to CheapAir.com's Annual Airfare Study, booking a ticket at least three weeks before departing, and no more than 2.5 months in advance, is the sweet spot for snagging the best flight deal. “This year's Prime Booking Window extends all the way up to about 3 weeks from your travel date.

Instead, flights tend to be the least expensive when you book between 5.5 and 1.5 months (164 and 46 days) in advance of your departure date. Using a free tool like Google Flights can help you stay on top of fare pricing trends so you can pinpoint the best time to book flights.

What is the cheapest day of the week to book a flight? According to our data and flight price history, Tuesday is the day to book. It seems most airlines launch their discounts on Monday nights, so you can pick up the best prices on Tuesday mornings. Typically, you'll save somewhere between 15 and 25 percent.

The process is largely controlled by computer software and is increasingly being bolstered by AI, so price changes can happen at any second. That's why there's no specific time of day — or even a specific day of the week, for that matter — that's best for booking cheap flights.

Some experts suggest purchasing your tickets on a Tuesday afternoon, while others insist that this technique might not produce the results you're after. Buying airfare at the stroke of midnight can yield a small amount of savings, say others, but it may not always be worth it to stay up late just to book a flight.

Tuesday is only believed to be a cheaper day to book flights because airlines often release sales starting from Monday night or Tuesday morning. This means that if you happen to look at flights on a Tuesday after a sale starts, you will probably get better flight deals than you would if searching on a Saturday.

“Historically, Tuesdays were the cheapest day to book flights,” says Laura Lindsay, global travel trends expert for trip-booking website Skyscanner. “This was broadly true prepandemic as seasonality and even weekly pricing cycles were more predictable. However, this is no longer a hard and fast rule.”

Do flight prices go down at night? ›

Are flights cheaper if bought at midnight? The ticket prices of the airline fluctuate every day and most of the time, resulting in an increase in the prices. Passengers should book a red-eye ticket because flight prices go down at night and they will find a cheaper ticket in comparison to day-time flights.

We stress that doesn't mean you should book your ticket as soon as you hit that window, though. Airfare prices can fluctuate daily so you should wait until you find a cheap flight, and then jump on it before it's gone.

Is there a cheapest month to fly? If you're looking for a bargain month to travel, January is best. Flights in February are a close second for being most affordable. At the other end of the spectrum, November and July are the first and second most expensive months to travel, on average.

Cheapest day of the week to fly

According to Google, it's cheaper to fly in the middle of the week, rather than on the weekend. Flights that take off between Monday and Wednesday can be between 12% and 20% cheaper than weekend flights. Sundays are an expensive day to depart, Google says.

Plane tickets usually don't get cheaper closer to the departure date. Flights tend to be the most inexpensive when you book between four months and three weeks before your departure date.

Shop on Tuesday

Many airlines release weekly airfare sales in the early morning hours of Tuesday, and by mid-afternoon, competing airlines have had the time to catch up and match sale prices. In other words, shoppers now have the widest range of deals to choose from when it comes to securing cheap airline tickets.