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When it comes to the day of the week you book your flight, everyone has their own theories. The best way to figure it out, though, is to look at the data. Let’s take a look.
Cheapest Day To Book Flights
When it comes to booking flights, the cheapest day to purchase depends on where you’re purchasing the flight. Before you go to book a flight, you should consider your destination. Plus, while the day is important, you should also consider the weeks and how many weeks lead to your travel time you have. This can also help you figure out the best week to book flights.
Flights Within Canada
If you’re looking to book domestic flights in Canada, data shows the cheapest day to book your domestic trips is Sunday. This is because it’s the first day of the week and the flights haven’t filled up. The further you move through the week, the more expensive the flights become.
Flights from Canada
Depending on the airline you’re looking to fly from, finding cheap flights can be done on either Sunday or Tuesday. Sunday because it’s the beginning of the week, and Tuesday because many different airlines choose to release all of their sales on Monday nights.
Best Time To Book International Flights
When it comes to booking international flights, when you’re travelling, it makes a big difference to when you should buy airline tickets. Airfare pricing can vary drastically with international travel, so usually, the more in advance you book, the better the prices. If you book sooner to your trip, you’re likely to pay more.
With that in mind, the best time to book international flights is 2 to 8 months before your flights. If you book further away, all the flights may not be available, and if you book too close to your flight, the prices can be very expensive.
The cheapest way to book an international flight, though, is to not have a date in mind. Often, airlines will list discounted flights, but you have to use the dates they provide. If you can make that work, you can end up saving money.
Time Flights Are Cheapest To Book
When it comes to booking flights, there’s more than one way to save money. That said, there are certain times when flights are the cheapest fares to book. Ideally, the closest that you want to book your flight is no less than 21 days before. It’s also important to pay attention to what day you’re going to fly.
When you book airfare, airlines will often show their pricing in the form of a calendar. This calendar will show the price of flights to your destination on each day. The cost of your flight will be based on which day you choose to fly. When you pay close attention to this calendar, you’ll notice that the flights in the middle of the week have cheap fares. Those on Fridays and weekends are much more expensive. This is because the weekend is the peak time for travelling.
Months You Should Book Flights In
When you’re booking your flights, the cheapest months are those that are in off-peak seasons. Peak season are summer, Christmas and other major holiday travel times. Generally, November and January are the cheapest months to fly since there are no major holidays. Even February. In March, there’s spring break which can be a popular time to travel. It’s also when the weather starts to improve.
If you do want to fly during the peak season, the ideal booking window is 1 to 3 months before your trip. You should also look during December and other months when airlines offer sales and discounted flights. Also, if you sign up for airline rewards and airline credit cards (with or without annual fees), you can have access to more sales and better deals. This is something business travellers often do.
Cheapest Months To Fly
As we mentioned, the colder months have flights that are a cheaper price. In these months, the cheapest days are Tuesdays and Wednesdays. By booking flights at this time, you can drastically reduce the cost of your trip and save more money for what you need it most. You should also pay attention to what time the flights are because that can also affect the price. The more desirable times tend to be more expensive than those in off hours.
Time of Day That Flights Are Cheapest
When you’re booking flights, it’s important to pay attention to the time of the flight. While there’s often no rhyme or reason to flight and the time, the more desirable flight times can be more expensive, especially when they’re at the last minute. Only occiainsionally can you find last minute flight deals that fit your budget.
Another reason that booking airfare at a not-ideal time has cheaper flights is because many customers choose to avoid those flights. This means that the airlines need to fill those seats, which they do by discounting the cost or making them available on discount travel sites. You’ll often find it much more difficult and expensive to get a last-minute flight at a desirable time.
Worst Days to Book Flights
If you’re looking to book a flight, the worst day to do so is a Friday. This is because the flights have been made available for a while, and the most desirable and reasonably priced flights have probably already been booked with most airlines. This means any flights you purchase are going to be more expensive than they could have been if you purchased them at the beginning of the week.
As for the days of the week you fly, Thursday to Sunday tend to be the most expensive days. You often notice that they can be anywhere from $50 to a few hundred dollars more. This is because these days are often the most ideal days for people to travel. It’s often when people choose to fly out last minute as well since it fits well with a traditional schedule.
Worst Months to Book Flights
The summer months are the most expensive to fly. This is often because it’s peak travel time. Many are on vacation, and children are out of school. Due to the influx in travel, it’s also when the more flights are offered by many airlines. For this reason, May and June can be expensive months to book your trips.
If you’re looking to travel in peak season, you want to plan. Flights are normally available a year in advance, so this gives you plenty of time to plan. That said, 6 months before you plan to travel (in the winter) is normally the best time to book. Not only can you get promotional deals, but you can pick and choose your days and times, which lets you find the best deals.
Worst Time of Day to Book Flights
The main reason that early afternoon is the worst time of day to book a flight is because everyone wants to fly at that time. While these flights aren’t always more expensive than others, they are more desirable which can increase your price. When you book early morning flights or those late at night, less people are looking to travel at those times giving you more flight options and more flexibility in pricing.
Ways to Find the Best Flight Deals
When you’re looking to book a flight, your best bet is to do your research and not book the first flight that you find. In Canada, there are many different airlines that fly to many different destinations. You can start by looking at the airline's website and see what flights and prices they offer.
From there, you can look at discount sites such as Expedia and Kayak. All you have to do is enter your destination and the departure date. The site will then compare prices to give you the best possible price. However, if the prices are still expensive and you have time to book, it may be a good idea to periodically check the websites until you find something that works for you.
Frequent Flyer Programs
If you tend to travel a lot, a good way to get big savings on flights is by signing up for frequent flyer programs such as airline miles. You can earn airline miles and discounts on flights the more that you book. Many of these programs also offer credit cards that you can earn points on when you use them to book flights. For frequent travellers, this can make a huge difference in flight costs since they can frequently get good deals.
How to Track Flight Prices
In Canada, there are quite a few different sites you can use to track flight prices. With these sites, you can also set up price alerts to help you get lower prices. You can even get price frop protection which will give you a refund if the price drops on your original flight. They also show you real time demand. Here are some of the best ones to help you get the lowest fares.
KAYAK
With Kayak, price alerts are very simple. They can be done using the website or the app. All you have to do is perform a search of the destination and thetravel dates you’re looking for. From there, you just select the bell and turn on price alerts to get the lowest prices. When there’s been a reduction in price on the trip you’re looking to book, you’ll get notified.
The great thing about this is that it saves you time from continuously searching for discounted prices. KAYAK is also known for offering great deals, so it’s a great place to start. Plus you can choose from first class, basic economy fares and more.
Skyscanner
With Skyscanner, setting up price alerts is actually pretty simple. All you have to do is search for the destination and dates you want to travel. However, you do have to have an account. It’s simple, easy, and free to register, though.
Once you’ve set up your account, you can start looking for deals. You can also select the bell to turn on your price alerts and get notified whenever a great deal for your trip becomes available. You can also turn off your price alerts once you’ve found the deal you want to purchase.
Hopper
Using Hopper is as simple as creating an account and downloading the app or using the website. Once you’ve done this, you can start searching for flights for your trip right away. You can also go into your settings and select which alerts you want to receive.
Google Flights
In order to start searching and getting alerts with Google Flights, you need to log in or create a Google account. Once you’ve done that, you can begin your search of finding flight deals. Once you start setting price alerts, you can choose to set them for specific dates or select any dates. This will alert you to all discounts for your selected destination. You can check back as often as you like or just wait until the notifications come through.
Final Thoughts
Before you start booking your vacation, it’s important to pay attention to airline prices. Certain airlines only offer certain flights, and they don’t always offer discounts. When booking your trips, it makes the most sense to look at all the different days and times that flights are available around the time that you want to take your trip. Changing your plans by a day or two can sometimes save you hundreds of dollars.
If you don’t find cheap flights you’re looking for when you begin your search, another option is to sign up for price alerts. There are many different websites that will allow you to do this. By taking a look at your different options and setting up alerts, you can often get the best deal. No matter what you choose to do, though, taking a look at your different options and paying attention to the prices can often save you hundreds of dollars.
