Best Time To Book Flight

Jun 19, 2019

Planning for a trip comes with a lot of responsibilities, thus you need to get everything in place. But what if you miss out on the most important aspect of traveling? That is the flight booking.

Everything would just topple up, and you won’t be able to cope up with the plan to book a flight.

Leaving flight booking for the last moment can cost you a lot of money. Therefore, people always tend to move towards choosing the cheapest time to book flights.

If you’re new in the game, it will surely be a problem finding the best time to book flights.

As a result, you will always find yourself in the dilemma of ‘how far in advance can I book a flight’.

Factors affecting the cost of your flight ticket

Whether you’re traveling domestically or internationally, there are certain factors which are sure to have an impact on your flight fare.

Moreover, when you’re traveling in flight, advance booking is something that will help you get the lowest prices.

Although it is known that domestic flights are cheaper than the international ones, you should still choose to book days in advance.

Some of the prominent factors that have an impact on your flight prices include the following:

  • The destination you’re flying to
  • Your time to book flights
  • International or domestic flights

No matter how many days you are booking in advance, it is necessary to research a little to find “When is the best time to book a flight for your trip?”.

Knowing the best day to book flights can help to solve a number of problems.

When should you book flights while traveling domestically?

If you’re flying within the country, you will have an advantage when it comes to booking flight in advance.

Experts suggest that when you’re attempting to purchase airline tickets fordomestic travel, you should do it usually 90 days before the travel dates. Apart from it, you can also choose to book the tickets for about 70 days in advance.

There are experts who believe that the cheapest day to book flight is about three to four weeks in advance. Apart from that, a survey states on an average you should book the flight in about 47 days prior.

Although these are not the important and essential factors, you will need to follow these as essential guidelines.

“ Don’t wait for the last week to buy a ticket, when the price of the ticket rises up to 25 – 30%”

When is the best time to book long haul flights?

best time to book flight ticket

Image Source: Cheapair

When you’re planning to travel internationally, you will need to book flights in advance. The price for international flights doesn’t fluctuate the same as that of domestic flights.

The cheapest days for air travel internationally is to book about five and a half months to one and a half months in advance that is 120 to 160 days before the departure date.

Even if you’re booking it in three months, it can be a great disadvantage. If you move to do it in the last month you won’t get the best deal.

Make sure to compare the flight prices online before booking it.

While this isn’t true for every destination, this is generally the case for Asia and Europe.

Beware of seasonality when booking international flights.

Unlike domestic flights, international flights generally have a massive difference between the price during the low tourist season and the peak tourist season.

When is the cheapest time to book a flight?

Research suggested that the cheapest day of the week to book the flight is Thursday and Friday. Nonetheless, if you know the time to book the flight, you will be able to get the best deals.

When you search for the best days to book a flight, you will find a number of sources. This will make it easy for you to get a step closer to your dream trip.

The price usually fluctuates, thus you will have a tough time. Basically, when it comes to booking a flight there is no hard rule

Initially,Tuesday was regarded as the cheapest time to book a flight. It was said that booking on Tuesday helps to save money by about 6%. But, nowadays this rule is disregarded since business travelers keep on traveling throughout the week.

The Prime Booking Window

arrivals
As per the airfare study, there is a continuous fluctuation in the airfare. Within the 11 months, the fares fluctuate for about 62 times. The prices may vary up to $36.

So, whenever you are booking flights, you should check the price for the ‘prime booking window’. This period usually lasts about 21 to 121 days before the date of travel.

You will be able to to get the best deals in the period. Although there is a fluctuation in the price, the prices are usually available at a discount of 5%.

Last Minute Trips

Most of the people tend to get confused and don’t know how far in advance they should book a flight. Thus, there are people who take the risk of booking a flight of about 14 to 20 days in advance.

You may get the opportunity, but there you cannot be sure about the best time to buy airline tickets while booking last minute.

If you’re booking your flight at least 7 to 13 days prior, you will need to pay about $85 more than the actual price during the prime booking window.

When is the cheapest time to book a holiday or seasonal trip tickets?

The best time to book a flight for a holiday or seasonal trip usually varies.

If you’re looking for the summer trips, you will need to book the flight for about 47 days in advance.

When it comes to fall and winter trips, you should book 62 to 69 days in advance, respectively.

For spring vacations, you should book about 90 days in advance.

Apart from airfare tickets, make sure to keep a check on various flight search engines such as ‘Kayak’ and ‘Google Flights’ for convenience.

Also, keep a check on the travel apps to get the best deals.

Anitha Perumal

Anitha Perumal

Content Strategist

Anitha Perumal is a Content Strategist at Claim Flights GmbH. She is a digital influencer, content specialist, analyst and always loves to do new things with new ideas. She holds a Master's degree in Information Technology.

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