Is there a cheapest month to fly? If you're looking for a bargain month to travel, February is your best bet. Flights in January closely follow February for being most affordable. At the other end of the spectrum, December and July are the first and second most expensive months to travel, on average.
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As it's a busy time of year, December flight prices tend to go up in the days around Christmas. But if you're flexible with flight and trip duration, and you book well in advance, you can usually bag a brilliant deal.
January and February are the cheapest months because you have so many families, students, teachers who can't travel, and you have a lot of folks that don't think about traveling cause they just went over the winter holiday, Keyes said. He also said there is a travel hangover from flying places.
“There is not one specific day to book travel that's going to be the cheapest,” Nastro said. “But there are days that are cheaper to fly than others. That's Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday.” If you're thinking about a summer vacation, now is the time to look and book.
For most destinations, peak summer is madness for travel. And that high demand for peak season raises flight prices for you. Typically, flight prices increase from mid-May or maybe early June through to mid-August or early September as families get out for summer break and other travelers set out for sunny adventures.
Another recent study done by Google found that flight prices on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays were 1.9% cheaper on average than flights on Saturdays and Sundays. However, Google's conclusion in releasing its study results: “There isn't much value in purchasing your tickets on a certain day of the week.”
There's no sugarcoating it: Airfare is expensive. And while waiting until the last minute might sound like a good idea, it typically is cheaper to book your flights in advance. We are seeing fewer last-minute deals than in years past, especially when it comes to flights, a Kayak spokesperson tells Travel + Leisure.
Timing plays an important part. Specifically, plane tickets usually don't get cheaper closer to the departure date. Instead, flights tend to be the most inexpensive when you book between four months and three weeks before your departure date.
Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the cheapest days to fly domestically. The cheapest days to depart if you're flying within the U.S. are midweek — generally Tuesday or Wednesday. For economy tickets, Tuesdays are about 24% lower than peak prices on Sundays, which translates to savings of about $85 per ticket.
If you think only the rich can afford to jet off on winter vacations, you could be missing out. January is generally the cheapest month of the year to fly. January (and part of February) is a dead zone, or off-peak period that begins once Christmas and New Year's flights have ceased. The period generally begins Jan.
February is also the cheapest time to travel to New Jersey, New Mexico, Nebraska, Missouri, and Connecticut, according to Kayak. Find out the best bucket list idea for each of the 50 states.