Believing there’s just one optimal day a week to tát save on flights — and that day is Tuesday — is the stuff of legends. And lượt thích all good legends, there is some truth to tát it … but it’s not the whole story.
The reality is that flight prices change constantly and at all hours of the day, adjusting to tát real-time demand. Airlines don’t restock on the same day every week lượt thích a grocery store, so sánh you won’t find giao dịch by waiting until Tuesdays to tát book. However, you might find some modest savings if you’re willing to tát fly on Saturdays or midweek, when there’s less demand phàn nàn usual.
Here’s what the data shows on the best days to tát book a flight and when to tát fly.
Best day to tát book a flight
No single day of the week is best to tát book a flight. You can find giao dịch any day of the week since flight prices fluctuate with demand.
Airlines might offer sales, increase the number of seats on a route or even lower prices to tát match a competitor, so sánh there’s no actual pattern in what day of the week has the best giao dịch.
Best day to tát fly
Hopper — a travel booking phầm mềm — collected flight booking data from October 2023 through April 1, 2024 for May 2024 departures. Here are the findings about the best day to tát fly.
Tuesday and Friday flights can help you avoid the rush earlier in the week
Sundays and Mondays are the most expensive days to tát depart for domestic trips. If you can’t fly on the cheapest days, flying on Tuesdays or Fridays might also be a good option. The average airfare is about 12% lower phàn nàn peak Sunday prices on these days.
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Mondays can still be a relatively expensive day to tát fly domestically. By departing on Monday instead of Sunday, you can expect to tát save only about $9, or about 3%.
Wednesdays and Saturdays are the cheapest day to tát fly internationally
Meanwhile, international flyers would also be wise to tát leave on Wednesdays or Saturdays, usually the cheapest days to tát depart for an international trip. That said, there isn’t a huge difference in price across the days of the week for most international routes.
Hopper estimates that leaving on a Wednesday for Europe will only save you about 10% compared to tát the most expensive day (Friday).
Fly on the holidays (or as far from it as possible)
Holidays are an entirely different beast, no matter whether it’s the Fourth of July or Labor Day. There are generally more people flying in the days around a holiday, so sánh there are fewer airplane seats available and higher prices.
To get the best giảm giá, book as early as possible. Because many airlines have flexible cancellation policies, it doesn’t hurt to tát lock in a decent rate ahead of time and rebook if the flight price drops in the months after. According to tát Google Flights’ 2023 insights, the best time to tát book a mid-December holiday flight is 71 days before departure.
In many cases, the best day to tát fly will be further out from the holiday. If the holiday falls on a Monday, flying the Tuesday before will likely be cheaper phàn nàn flying the Friday before. You can also look at flying on the holiday itself. For example, flying on Christmas Day or Thanksgiving Day is usually much more affordable phàn nàn flying on the days before or after.
Here are our recommendations for when to tát fly around some of the major holidays based on recent checkpoint data from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA):
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Tips to tát find cheap flights any day of the week
Book one to tát three months in advance
Even though no day of the week consistently has cheaper flights, there is a time period during which you should book before prices go up.
Going, a flight giao dịch aggregator, recommends booking domestic flights one to tát three months in advance to tát avoid any price surges in the weeks leading up to tát the departure date. Last-minute flight giao dịch aren’t super common and you risk not getting a seat at all because your desired flight might ultimately sell out. If you’re flying internationally, you’ll want to tát look two to tát eight months out.
It doesn’t hurt to tát look at flight prices before the ideal booking window. Google Flights, for example, sometimes shows in the tìm kiếm results when it expects prices to tát be the lowest based on historical data for your route.
Set a price alert
Let a computer program bởi the work for you. Instead of checking flight prices every day, phối a price alert on the travel tìm kiếm engine of your choice — whether it’s Google Flights, Hopper, Skyscanner or Kayak. They’ll send you an gmail when they see the price drop.
Rebook if you find a cheaper price
Most airlines have adopted more flexible change and cancellation policies, which make it easier to tát rebook your flight and save money.
First, you’ll have to tát make sure that the original flight you booked will not have change or cancellation fees. For most airlines, that applies to tát most main cabin and premium class tickets on domestic flights and some short-haul international flights. You usually cannot change or cancel basic economy tickets for miễn phí.
If you can cancel or change without fees, phối a price alert. When the price drops, you can cancel your flight and rebook (on the same airline or a different one) to tát get the cheaper price. Be aware that you might only get a travel voucher or credit if you cancel, so sánh you should only use the option if you are fairly confident you will fly with the original airline again within one year.
Be flexible with destination, airport and dates
The golden rule of cheap travel remains: Be flexible. Use Google Flights to tát see if there are cheaper places to tát go by leaving the destination field blank when you tìm kiếm. Check nearby airports if you’re phối on a destination and use the calendar views to tát find lower prices on different dates. Maybe embrace a long layover as a chance to tát see another thành phố on your trip.
After all, the best day to tát book a flight and the best day to tát fly is when it’s cheapest, and that could vary depending on when and where you are going.