cheapest flight tickets: This means that price varies significantly depending on the day, sometimes within a single day, and thus you cannot tell when is the best time to book a flight in order to have a trip planned in the near future. Normally, one has to plan his/her travel way ahead with the added advantage of having to book a certain flight.
But if your primary goal is to find the cheapest airline ticket possible, there are a few items of history that you can take into consideration on your travels. When you type in your preferred destination and dates of travel on Google Flights, we’ll tell you whether you ought to wait to book or book now because the price can’t get any cheaper.to book your travel far in advance, especially if you need to be on a specific flight.
But if your number one priority is getting cheap airfare, you can look at some historical patterns to guide you along the way. When you search on Google Flights for a specific destination and dates of travel, we’ll show you the cheapest time to book, so you can decide whether it’s better to wait for lower prices or book ASAP.
Before we get to those trends, for a birds-eye view of the general patterns of when to book across multiple types of situations, here is our analysis of the latest data we’ve collected on prices for US travellers, aggregated from four years of data from Google Flights.2
Domestic flights: For domestic flights, fares have been cheapest thirty-eight days before the flight. Historically this category has had the lowest pricing of 21-52 days before takeoff.
International flights: Thus, if you are planning to travel abroad, you have to likely book as early as possible. Whereas the average price has been found lowest 101 days before departure, the lowest price bracket is 50 days or more before the flight date found historically. Prices will be the lowest to book an upcoming trip. Usually, it’s smart to book your travel far in advance, especially if you need to be on a specific flight.
But if your number one priority is getting cheap airfare, you can look at some historical patterns to guide you along the way. When you search on Google Flights for a specific destination and dates of travel, we’ll show you the cheapest time to book, so you can decide whether it’s better to wait for lower prices or book ASAP.
If you want a general sense of the best time to book across different scenarios, here’s a look at our latest insights for U.S. travellers, based on four years of aggregated Google Flights data — plus a few more trends that can help you find cheaper airfare.1
Domestic flights: For trips within the U.S., average prices have been lowest 38 days before departure. The historical low price range is 21-52 days before takeoff.
International flights: If travelling abroad, you should probably book as early as possible. While average prices have been lowest 101 days before departure, the historically low price range is 50 days or more before takeoff. In other words, average prices for international travel from the U.S.? They don’t decrease at all before the trip, but they do start to increase 50 days before the flight.
Thanksgiving: For domestic journeys during Thanksgiving, prices have been the lowest 45 before departure, and a range of 26-59 days out. In other words, if your travel plans involve flying just before or after the holiday, then early October remains the best month to get cheap flights.
Christmas: If you are travelling domestically for Christmas, then plan a little bit more ahead. The greatest savings has been seen 58 days pre-purchase and the low fluctuation range lies at 36-72 days prior to the flight — the cheapest time to book flights for Christmas is the last half of October.
Spring break: The best deals for domestic travel in these months were identified at 44 days before the trip with the low price band being between 33 and 59 days before.
Summer vacation: If your destination trip is in July or August and it is within the country, then you can sneak in some good deals at the eleventh hour. The prices have been lowest 21 days before departure, and the low price range is 13-43 days out.
Trips to Europe: For outbound international travel, it is found that cheap flights to Europe for the American traveller are easily available 94 days before the date of setting off. But you do not need to delay your departure – average prices are not much higher and the lowest prices were found 50 days or more before takeoff – the same rule applies to all kinds of international travel.
Trips to Mexico or the Caribbean: These trips thus differ from the general global trends. Fares to travel from the US to Mexico or the Caribbean have been lowest at 44 days prior to departure and the low pricing is on the 26 to 68 days from the date of travel.
Searching for even more information for the cheapest flight deals? If you asked those who travel, as to which is the best day of the week to book, the answer is that there is no concrete advantage of purchasing the tickets on a particular day of the week. Ange is 36-72 days out — so the best time to book cheap Christmas flights is the back half of October.
Spring break: For domestic trips in March or April, the lowest prices have been 44 days before departure, and the low price range is 33-59 days out.
Summer vacation: If you’re travelling domestically in July or August, there might be some last-minute bargains available. Prices have been lowest 21 days before departure, and the low price range is 13-43 days out.
Trips to Europe: Trips to Europe from the U.S. tend to be cheapest 94 days before departure. But you shouldn’t wait for prices to drop — the historically low price range is 50 days or more before takeoff (same as the general advice for all international travel).
Trips to Mexico or the Caribbean: These trips are an exception to the broader international trend. Prices for travelling from the U.S. to Mexico or the Caribbean have been lowest 44 days before departure, and the low price range is 26-68 days out.
Looking for more money-saving tips for booking flights? If you’re curious about the best day of the week to book, the answer is that there’s not much benefit to buying your tickets on a certain day of the week. Traditionally Friday is considered to be the high-price day, however now it is only 1.3% higher than the low-price day of Tuesday.
Regarding historical prices, it has been found that flying on Monday Tuesday or Wednesday has been about 13% cheaper than flying on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.. That means if one eliminates international journeys only, one can save up to 20%.
Read Also: Which Airlines’ Premium Economy Is Worth It?
And last but certainly not least (well, maybe least in terms of price!), if you’re willing to opt for a layover versus nonstop flight, our data shows that you can probably get a better deal: It was clear that on average nonstops are 25% higher priced than flights with stops. Now whether you must be inconvenienced with more travel time — that is entirely your call!
