When to Book Your Flight, According to the Experts

Hold that booking.

While some travel agents may follow some general rules when it comes to booking airline tickets to get the cheapest fares for their clients, new data has broken the practice down scientifically.

According to booking data from Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) and Expedia, airline tickets follow a predictable pattern and getting the best deals often comes down to holding out for the perfect time.

When to book during the year
While most trips get booked all together, it may be best to wait for a certain period of time before a vacation to book.

According to the report, the time to get the lowest fare on an economy ticket for travel within North America is roughly 57 days in advance of the trip. According to Expedia and ARC, booking it then saves 10% on average against the optimal fare.

But for international flights, particularly ones to Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa, agents should be away that, in most cases, the early the better.

Flights from North America to Europe reach their lowest price point around 176 days before departure (11% less expensive than the average fare), while fares to Asia-Pacific reach their lowest point 160 days in advance (13% cheaper than the average fare), and fares to the Middle East and Africa reach their lowest point 144 days in advance (24% cheaper).

Meanwhile, flights to North America’s closest neighbors—the Caribbean and South America—generally have their lowest fares closer to the departure day.

For the Caribbean, it’s 77 days in advance (5% savings), and for South America it’s 90 days (10% savings).

The data also showed that Europeans booking flights are best off not waiting less than 140 days in advance; the average fare booked more than 140 days in advance was $156.41 compared to $175.69 for fares booked after.

When to book during the week
While traditionally, it had always been assumed that booking a flight on a Tuesday would yield consumers the biggest savings, the data from Expedia and ARC suggests that there may be a new best-booking-day.

Tuesday is still a close second, but weekends may be the new best time to be booking flights.

Though, the groups said that there may be some caveats to that information.

Most importantly, weekends usually show up as the days with the lowest air prices because that is when leisure travelers are most often booking tickets (as opposed to business travelers, who most often book their tickets during the week). 

Pic: Russavia