It’s not that straightforward.
All this year, flight prices have shocked fliers. Tickets to Europe and Asia have been extortionate. Travel app Hopper estimates that prices to Europe are 7% higher than pre-pandemic, while Asia is asking people to shell out $525 more than what they were paying before the pandemic. Unfortunately, it’s likely to stay this way through the fall. Domestic flights, however, have seen a decrease of 11% or $32 per ticket, but they may also rise during the holiday season.
Amid all this, every mention of the word “discount” perks up travelers. And today, August 23, is National Cheap Flight Day, which since 2015 has been known as the day airlines drop their prices. It was based on the fact that autumn travel begins in August, once kids return to school, which also decreases demand, and therefore lowers prices.
But it’s not that straightforward.
Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) dismisses National Cheap Flight Day as a farce. The travel company specializes in finding cheap deals and highlights that there is no single day when prices can be relatively reasonable; it can happen any day.
Founder Scott Keyes says that the best time to book flights is when fares drop and that happens around a so-called Goldilocks Window: one to three months in advance of domestic flights and two to eight months in advance for long-hauls. “For peak seasons like Christmas or mid-summer, add a few months extra—three to seven months for domestic, four to 10 months for international.”
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Hopper also suggests monitoring three to four months in advance to find the best deals and discounts. According to the experts, you can save as much as $100 by flying in the middle of the week during the busy holiday season and the chances of flight delays and cancellations reduce significantly if you take off before 9 a.m.
Related: Here’s Where To Find Those Dirt-Cheap Flights to Europe (And Beyond)
Going also bursts the myth that Tuesday is the cheapest day to book a flight. Once upon a time, airlines used to manually update prices on a certain day of the week, but now they use algorithms that determine prices and update them automatically.
So, the best time to book is whenever you spot a good deal. Don’t wait to book on a certain day. Close to the date of travel, you’ll hardly find a competitive price, so plan in advance and make use of Google Flights, Hopper, and Going to find an attractive deal. For Thanksgiving and Christmas, you should ideally be already looking at deals—make the purchase by September.
Also, remember that the cheapest option may not be the most sensible. Budget airlines give you a seat on the plane for a bargain, but the extra costs for every single service have to be factored in. If you have baggage, if you want a meal, if you want priority boarding, if you prefer a certain seat, you will end up paying on top of the fare.
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