The Airline Reporting Corporation (ARC)'s 2023 Global Airline Sales Database and travel app Hopper's historical pricing data also confirm that Wednesday is the cheapest day to fly overall. Hopper found that airfare can be discounted by 20% or more when you fly domestically on a Wednesday.
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Now, the day of the week you choose to travel does make a difference in the best time to buy flights. In 2023, the cheapest day of the week to fly is Wednesday. Flying on Wednesday will save you almost $100 versus Sunday – the most expensive day to fly.
Generally, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the best weekdays to fly. Thursday is a bit more expensive but still reasonable. Saturday is usually the cheapest weekend day to fly. That does not mean you cannot find great flight prices on the other days of the week.
Saturday and Monday flights can help you avoid the Sunday rush. Saturdays and Mondays are the next cheapest days to fly after midweek flights. The average airfare is about 13%-15% lower on these days.
For easier leisure travel, consider Wednesday and Thursday, excludes Thanksgiving Weekend. Saturdays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays also come in as the cheapest days to fly, because they're not popular travel days.
Average domestic airfare price by dayThe 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.
Saturday is usually the cheapest weekend day to fly. That does not mean you cannot find great flight prices on the other days of the week. It just means your odds of finding cheap airfare on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are higher than the rest of the week.
“In 2023, we expect that [trend] to reverse and year-over-year fares to fall,” Keyes said, pointing to Federal Reserve data indicating recent, modest drops in airfare—a shift that comes as airlines have begun to add more flights, fueling competition.
As travel restrictions and Covid testing become a thing of the past, research reveals that 73% of people are more optimistic about travel than they were in 2022.
Just like us after a night of good sleep, airline circulation is freshest in the morning. If your flight departs in the morning, you are less likely to be affected by delays that stack up during the day and push back or cancel departure times.
Key Takeaways. The late fall and winter months—from mid to late October through mid-to-late March—are often the cheapest time to fly to Europe (though fares can spike in December). It's often cheaper to fly to Europe mid-week, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, in particular.
Average domestic airfare price by dayThe 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.
The truth is that the mid-day flights on Tuesday and Wednesday are less popular, and therefore both less crowded and less expensive! We always recommend a mid-week flight for just these reasons. So, if you can't stomach the idea of waking up at 3am to catch a less crowded flight, you can still avoid the worst crowds.
Airlines don't restock on the same day every week like a grocery store, so you won't find deals by waiting until Tuesdays to book. However, you might find some modest savings if you're willing to fly on a Tuesday or Wednesday, when there's less demand than usual.
The best times of day to fly are very early in the morning and very late at night such as a redeye flight. Since those times have many drawbacks, they are usually cheaper. If you are willing to give up a little sleep, you should consider booking those times if they are available.
Why not try a different season? As a general rule, flying in quiet months between holidays is your best bet to get a cheap, less crowded flight. You should definitely try the second half of January, the first days of February, early May, or the most part of September and October.