Revealed! The best time to book a flight is…

Confidently booking a flight, safe in the knowledge that you’ve nabbed a great deal, can sometimes feel like a near impossible task. Airfares can fluctuate drastically, and a sudden price drop or hike can make a world of difference to your holiday budget.

So, to help make your next holiday booking easier, we’ve studied flight data from the experts at Kayak to reveal when to book your next flight to stand the best chance of securing a great value deal*. Whether you’re mini-breaking in Europe or jetting off to somewhere exotic, travelling as a couple or adventuring with the brood, here’s what you need to know.

When is the best time to book a flight to Europe?

According to Kayak’s data, the best time price-wise to book short-haul flights to Europe if you’re travelling as a couple is around ten weeks before you want to go. However, the data also reveals that, on average, you’re likely to find similar prices between eight and eleven weeks in advance. The most expensive time to book a flight is the day you want to fly.

If you’re lucky enough to be able to travel outside the school holidays, then May, June, September and October are the months to max the savings and get the sun.

But deciding when to book can still be tricky. Early birds will have a wider choice of flights and accommodation to create their perfect break. Plus, there are early booking discounts and low deposit offers to help spread the cost of booking now.

However, if you’re willing to gamble, you can often snap up last-minute bargains from the big package companies. Just be prepared to accept whatever is left, as there may be less choice.

You’ll see less last-minute discounting from the online agents, so if your destination is a little less mainstream, book early for the best deal. And, of course, if you know what you want and don’t want to risk losing out, get that deposit down today.

When is the best time to book a long-haul flight?

The best time to book a long-haul flight depends on where you’re going. For travel to North America, for example, Kayak’s data suggests couples are likely to nab the best deal ten weeks in advance, while families may wish to hold off until seven weeks before they want to fly.

If you’re going to Asia, generally speaking, the best time to book your flight is around 33 weeks before travel for couples and 38 weeks for families.

As with European flights, ultra-last-minute flights booked on the day of travel are likely to be the most expensive.

Longer flights on indirect routes, with one or more flight changes, can lower the price of your holiday. It’s also worth signing up to frequent flyer schemes to collect points. You can use them to buy upgrades on future flights as well as other benefits

For destinations such as Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean islands, consider the big package holiday companies. For peak dates, book ahead and make use of low deposits to get a good price. They also have great deals on off-peak dates – unlike the big airlines who push their pricing up as seats run out, package companies tend to discount their prices at the last minute.

When is the best time to book a flight for summer holidays?

Sorry last-minute bookers, flights to Europe over the summer break are, on average, cheapest around ten weeks in advance.

If you like a little more time to plan, up to 14 weeks in advance will still surface good value flights to Europe for all types of traveller. For a little more sponteneity, you can leave booking up to six weeks before your trip and stand a fairly good chance of nabbing a bargain.

Worldwide flights, meanwhile, require a lot more planning: secure your flight between 30 and 40 weeks ahead of your trip for the best value.

When is the best time to book flights for family holidays?

Many families with school-aged children cannot realistically take their kids away when prices are cheaper (that is, outside of the school holidays). The same goes for those working in education. This leads to fierce competition across the UK to bag those school holiday getaways; as a result, demand – and prices – are high.

It means that, in general, booking school holidays and flights early will give you more choice for a better price. The peak summer getaway and the May bank holiday are the ones to really get organised for.

While nine weeks is officially the magic number for families, Kayak data shows that anywhere between eight and ten weeks before travel is, generally, the cheapest time to book. If you want low prices, fly midweek, not weekends. Compare self-catering options with all-inclusive to pick the best value.

Package holidays from big names such as TUI and Jet2holidays are geared towards families looking for excellent value. They tend to come with free child places and low deposits to help you snare the perfect break at the lowest possible outlay. In fact, you can book with TUI right now with a £0* deposit for holidays departing six months in advance – that’s right in time for an August break.

It’s a similar story with online travel agents that package flights and hotels for you (likeloveholidays and On the Beach); once again, the earlier you book, the better the price. Flight prices tend to increase for peak dates whereas the accommodation tends to stay fairly static. Leave it and prices will rise overall.

The busiest time for bookings is straight after Christmas and New Year when every travel company wants a piece of your holiday cash. The discounts may be a little higher than now but there will be less choice available on key dates and in popular resorts and properties. For bookings made after that, prices generally go one way only: up!

When is the best time to book flights for a city break?

With low-cost airlines fighting for your business on destinations from Nice to New York, bagging flights for a city break at a great price is child’s play.

For the cheapest prices and best deals, look at January and February, when many people stay at home. The weather may not be at its best, but exploring a city’s museums, galleries, shops and restaurants is easy in any weather.

However, don’t expect massive savings on last-minute weekend breaks to European Christmas markets. If you are still set on squeezing in a trip this December, try midweek for lower prices. Alternatively, cities not normally associated with the festive season – such as Marrakech, Rome and Athens – can still offer great value at the last minute.

Looking further ahead, don’t wait to book for quick getaways at Easter and the two bank holidays in May. Prices will only go up, so the earlier you snap up those dates the less you’ll have to stump up.

Book a midweek flight to avoid higher prices at weekends and include a Sunday night where you can – it’s usually the cheapest night of the week in hotels.

When is the best time to book a flight for the Easter holidays?

If you’re considering travelling to Europe over the Easter break, both couples and families can find a good deal between ten to six weeks before a trip.

For longer-haul travel, prime booking time price-wise is a huge 30 to 40 weeks before travel. That said, this booking window can vary quite a bit depending on where you want to go as Kayak's data set incorporated all its 'worldwide' destinations.

When is the best time to book a flight for the Christmas holidays?

Whether you want to escape Christmas festivities or embrace them, travelling over the holiday season requires a bit of advance planning.

For travel to Europe, both couples and families will find the best value deals between ten to fifteen weeks in advance. Brave last-minute bookers may also find a bargain just six weeks before.

If you're travelling further, it's best to be prepared; 30 to 40 weeks is the 'safe' window for nabbing a good deal to worldwide destinations.

What is the best day of the week to book a flight?

It turns out that cheap Tuesday isn’t a myth: according to Kayak’s data, Tuesday is generally the cheapest day to book a flight on, both when buying flights to Europe and most worldwide flights. The US is the exception to this, with the data revealing that Wednesday is often the cheapest day to book.

How else can I find good flight deals?

Getting savvy with your searches and knowing when to book your flight will undoubtedly help save you some cash. But it pays to keep an eye out for other ways to get the best deal on your flight.

One top tip if you live within driving distance of a couple of airports is to compare flight prices from a range of departure points – a difference in term times across regions, for example, may net you significant savings.

Signing up to deal-spotting newsletters such as Jack’s Flight Club and checking in on user-contributed deals forums such as hotukdeals can also keep you ahead of the bargain-hunting pack.

And, finally, one of our bugbears – don’t let your bargain-hunting efforts go to waste by paying over the odds for unnecessary flight extras. Think carefully about whether you need to pre-book seats, take lots of luggage or pay for, often expensive, airline meals.

*Please note: All data is from Kayak. For European and long-haul flights, figures are based on 2019 search data for departures from 2019 to July 2020. For summer, Easter and Christmas holiday flights, figures are based on 2019 search for departures in 2019 only. Keep in mind that the length of your holiday and what day you travel will impact live prices.