Avid travelers have long discussed how to master the pseudoscience of knowing the best time to book flights. Airline prices change dramatically, and there are few things more frustrating than booking in advance and then seeing your flight price cut in half two months later.
In the world of cheap flight hunting, the only absolute is that there are no absolutes. However, there is helpful research, data, and experience we can draw from to determine the best time to book flights to save as much money as possible!
This article will discuss:
- General rules for booking flights.
- The best time to buy domestic flights.
- The best time to buy international flights.
- The best time to buy for various popular seasons.
- How to get the best flight deals at any time of the year.
The general rules
It’s mind-boggling how you can pay one price for a seat while the person next to you pays half the price.
Airlines use price tiers for seats and sophisticated algorithms that predict demand to maximize profits. Once the airline hits its target for seats sold at a certain rate, prices jump to the next level. If tickets don’t sell, prices drop until they reach a baseline.
This doesn’t mean you should wait until the last minute, though. Airlines are notorious for cranking prices for last minute flights knowing desperate travelers will pay.
In my own experience, I can typically book flights from my home airport to Dallas-Fort Worth for ~$300 one to four months out, but when I try to book in the next week, prices are $600-$700!
This gets us to the golden rule of the best time to book flights.
Book your flights three to nine months in advance.
This is helpful, but still quite general. We will discuss exactly when to book different types of flights in various seasons.
First, some other helpful general rules:
- Don’t wait until the last minute.
- Fly on off-peak days (Sunday, Tuesday).
- Set up price alerts with Google Flights.
- Look at flight price data on Google Flights.
- Book a refundable tickets in case the price drops.
The best time to buy domestic flights
Expedia’s 2024 air travel hacks report claims the best time to book domestic flights is 28 days out saying, “Travelers saved up to 24% compared to those who booked at the last minute, surpassing the 10% savings travelers saw on average in 2022.”
Let’s put this data to the test.
This article is being written on November 1, 2024.
I looked up a one-way flight from Chicago to Santa Barbra, CA on Google Flights:
- Today, November 1: $498
- Tomorrow, November 2: $354
- 28 days out: $178
Some travelers believe the best time to book a flight is as far out as possible, but the experts disagree, especially for domestic flights.
However, in our Santa Barbara example, flights in September 2025 (the farthest out I’m able to see) are priced at about $215.
Generally speaking, booking one to three months out and avoiding booking last minute will be your best chance at securing the best domestic flight deals.
The best time to buy international flights
When is the best time to buy international flights?
It’s earlier than you’d book domestic flights.
Most international flights are long-haul flights, meaning there is less competition, so the airlines have more control over pricing.
In contrast, there are approximately 60 flights from NYC to Miami every day. One airline can’t be priced far above everyone else because five other airlines are vying for passengers.
There is only one nonstop flight to New Zealand from Texas. American Airlines flies direct to Auckland from Dallas-Fort Worth.
For over 30 million Texans, there is one option to get to New Zealand nonstop. Because of this, American has complete control over the price.
This change in supply and demand makes it necessary to book international flights farther in advance to get the best deal.
According to Expedia’s research, “International flights should be booked around 60 days out (and no more than 4 months out) for optimal availability and savings (around 10% on average). Last year, the sweet spot was closer to six months out.”
This is an interesting shift from last year, where they recommended that the best time to book international flights was six months out.
The nonstop flight on American to Auckland is $848 28 days from the time of writing this, and only $617 four months out.
In this case, 60 days is not the best time to buy international flights, as that would have us traveling during the peak Christmas/New Year holiday season. Prices are quite high currently.
When to book for different seasons
The typical recommendations (described above) for the best time to book flights can be easily thwarted by holidays and peak travel seasons.
There is no way to get off-peak pricing during Thanksgiving or Christmas, two of the busiest travel periods of the year, but there are a few ways to save money.
- Book lower-demand days during high-demand seasons.
Everyone wants to fly the Wednesay before Thanksgiving. You could save hundreds flying on Monday or early Thanksgiving day.
Roundtrip flights are $1,300-plus from Charlotte, NC to St. Kitts December 26-January 2. However, if you went the next week, January 4-11, flights are $580 roundtrip.
Your Christmas vacation is possible, just not on the week everyone else wants to go!
- Book fully refundable airfare and set up price tracking.
It’s worth it to book refundable airfare. It gives you extreme flexibility to book your trip, and then monitor flight prices to see if they drop dramatically. You could book your Thanksgiving trip in January, then monitor the prices for 10 months and hope for a large drop.
It’s simple to cancel your booking and rebook at the new price.
While summer is peak season, it’s a long season. Also, many families have flexibility with children out of the normal routine of school.
This allows you to follow the two suggestions above to save money during peak season.
For summer, the rules still apply of booking domestic flights 28 days out and international flights 60 days out.
Expedia shared this helpful chart:
Tips for scoring the best deals anytime
There are plenty of rules to follow and strategies to implement, but if you want the cheapest deals available to the public from your home airport, I can encourage you enough to sign up for Dollar Flight Club.
Dollar Flight Club makes reading this article on the best time to book flights irrelevant.
How? You’re sent the best deals regardless of dates, season, region, etc.
It’s free to sign up and you’ll get deals and offers like these sent to you daily:
The point
When is the best time to book flights? The best time to book domestic flights is 28 days out and the best time to book international flights is 60 days out, according to Expedia’s data.
Airline prices are constantly changing, so I’d highly recommend setting up price alerts on your top destinations.
Of course, at the end of the day, the way to do the least work and get the best deal is to simply sign up for Dollar Flight Club.
Now you know how far in advance to book flights, and you know that you don’t actually have to know it, because DFC will do the work for you.
