The cheapest - and most expensive - days to book your flights
It's difficult to know when the best time is to book your flights. Flight comparison site, Kayak has done the work and has revealed the best days to fly
It’s always a puzzle when it comes to knowing when to book to get the best price for flights. But if you’re clever and you chose the right day, when demand is lower, you’ll definitely get yourself a bargain.
A flight comparison site, Kayak, has done the legwork and found out that if you’re a little flexible on departure dates - usually outside school holidays - you might manage to make a considerable saving.
The results of the survey undertaken in Australia also highlighted that most want to spend a little more on travel this year.
While oil prices and inflation have bumped up prices across the board - from fuel prices to accommodation, there are signs that these increases are easing.
When it comes to booking, Kayak has highlighted that Fridays were the most expensive days to travel overseas, while Mondays were the cheapest days to book.
Angus Kidman, a travel spokesperson at financial comparison site Finder, said mid week was the best time to find cheaper flights and on Monday afternoons or evenings after the business rush had subsided.
There is even more scope to make savings if you fly during off-peak times and at unusual times like midnight or 1am.
“Avoid traveling during school holidays if you can... and be aware of the seasonality of the demand of the place where you're headed to and where you're leaving from”, he advised.
There’s also that quandary of whether it’s better to book closer to your departure date or far out. Angus said: “If you book closer to your date of departure you’ll typically pay more, although the exception to that is sometimes you’ll see last-minute availability that’s really cheap”.
It’s always best to book directly with an airline, he said.
"Firstly, the airline is going to sell them to you as cheaply as possible," he said. "Secondly, if you book via a website that a comparison site redirects you to, you'll often have to deal with the booking website rather than the airline if there's a problem or you need to make a change".
