Best Time to Book Cheap Flights

When it comes to travelling, we certainly don’t mess around. We’ve analysed over 250 million flight prices from the last three years, and even added a host of insider tips to help you get the cheapest flight when booking your next holiday.

So when exactly is the best time to travel? Our analysis shows that November is the cheapest month to head overseas. Travelling in that month could save you as much as 8% when compared to the average price paid. To increase your chances of landing the best possible deal, aim to purchase your flight 29 weeks in advance of your departure date.

When’s the most expensive? Don’t expect to find any travel bargains during the festive season. While December is the season of giving, that generous spirit unfortunately doesn’t spill over to airfares. It should come as no surprise that it is the most expensive month to travel with flight prices jumping as much as 15% during the popular holiday season.

When’s the best time to take off? This is largely dependent on several factors like destination, airline, and timing. So we dug a little deeper into the data to uncover the best travel bargains you could grab when you fly to any of New Zealand’s top 10 destinations.

In terms of longer haul flights, planning ahead will pay off. If you’re looking to visit the USA, booking 30 weeks in advance could have you pocketing as much as $243 in savings. For a little less waiting time, Germany comes in as another cost-effective option. Purchase your plane ticket to Deutschland 24 weeks before departure and you’ll be looking at fares discounted by as much as $277. Imagine the amount of bratwurst and bier that could buy!

For the more spontaneous travellers – don’t worry, there are still cheap travel deals to be found that don’t require seven and a half months of planning. If you happen to be a lover of both spontaneity and the beach, boy have we got news for you!

Fiji offers the biggest proportional savings out of the 10 destinations, it’s 15% cheaper than the route’s average airfare if you book 10 weeks beforehand. So really, it’s two months of waiting in exchange for a week in tropical paradise and an extra $128 to play around with.

How else can you bag the best prices? The Skyscanner Best Time to Book data may be a handy predictor when it comes to timing, but if you already have set dates in mind there are other ways to track down a bargain. Day-to-day life is busy enough without having to constantly keep an eye on airfares. Knowing this, Skyscanner created Price Alerts, a nifty little feature that helps you keep track of the flight you want and notifies you via email when the price starts to fall or climb.

If you’re more flexible with dates, use the whole month view whilst searching for flights on Skyscanner – it’ll give you an overview on air ticket costs over the course of the month, so you’ll have a clearer idea of what days are cheaper to fly.

Keen to get your travel for the year sorted? You can download a copy of Best Time to Book here so you’ll remember the best times to bag a flight bargain!