Raise your hand if you’ve ever stayed up late or waited until Tuesday in hopes of booking a cheaper flight. Okay, now lower your hand … and never do it again.
That old Tuesday trope is one of countless outdated (or just flat-out wrong) myths that continue to circulate to this day. Here’s the truth: Tuesday is not the cheapest day to book flights – the best day to book flights is whenever you find a cheap deal. And cheap flights can pop up at any hour, every day of the week.
It’s less about the day you book and more about the day you fly – plus, using the right tools (and having the right mindset) to find a great deal. We’ll show you how it works, and why there’s no magic day to find a good deal on airfare.
What is the Cheapest Day to Book a Flight?
You’ve heard it from friends and coworkers. It’s widely accepted as gospel: “The cheapest day to book flights is on Tuesdays.”
But it’s time to set the record straight. That’s just not true.
Yes, you can find cheap flights on Tuesdays. But you might get a better deal on a Wednesday. Or Thursday. Or any other day of the week. There is not one special day of the week to book flights at a lower price.
Don’t just take our word for it. According to an analysis from the team behind Google Flights, there’s been a negligible, 1.9% savings when you book your flights Tuesday(s), Wednesday(s), or Thursday(s) instead of Saturday or Sunday over the past five years.
The Tuesday tip we’ve all heard is a convenient but outdated myth that ignores the fact that airfare pricing is constantly changing. Airlines tweak their pricing by the hour to try to win over more customers and undercut their competitors. So don’t assume you’re getting the best flight deal just because you’re booking on a Tuesday.
Our team of flight deal analysts spends all day, every day searching for the cheapest fares to send to Thrifty Traveler Premium members. The lowest fares and best sales don’t just happen on one day of the week – we find cheap flights, mistake fares, and unadvertised award sales every single day of the year.
One of the craziest mistake fares we found in the past few years? Atlanta to Chile – nonstop and roundtrip – for just $63. And we found it on a Thursday at 10 a.m.
And this mistake fare to Dublin (DUB) for just $135 roundtrip? We found it earlier this year … on a Wednesday.
Those are just two examples among literally tens of thousands over our years of finding flight deals. And while we’re on the topic of travel myths, there’s one more myth we need to clear up…
Stop clearing your cookies when you’re shopping for flights. Seriously: Clearing your cookies or searching incognito for flights won’t magically make cheaper flights appear. This is another travel myth about booking flights that has long been rampant in the travel world. It’s time to put this myth to rest.
Other sites and online travel agencies may do it, but airlines aren’t manipulating airfare pricing based on whether you’ve searched for a flight two, three, or 13 times. Our team searches hundreds of routes daily. If airlines were playing these tricks with cookies, we’d never be able to find a flight deal – and trust me, we find plenty.
Tips for Finding Cheap Airfare
Focus on the Day You Fly Instead
None of this is to say timing it right is unimportant. But it’s not about when you buy airline tickets … it’s more about when you actually get on the plane.
If you’re trying to figure out when to book, you’re asking the wrong question. The better question to ask is what day of the week is cheapest to fly. And that means flying on off-peak days: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays are often much cheaper days to fly. Shifting your departure and return dates by just a day or two can save you hundreds of dollars. So stretch that weekend into a slightly longer weekend!
Avoiding peak travel seasons is key, too. Airfare during the middle of summer is typically much more expensive – and the same goes for major holidays. Traveling during shoulder seasons – from mid-April through early June and late August through early October – is the key to more savings. If you can travel in the fall or winter instead, the savings can grow.
Holiday Flight Booking Windows
Struggling to find a halfway decent price for a flight home over Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s – or a getaway for spring break? It still matters more what day you actually get on the plane … but you’ll need to be strategic about how far in advance you book, too.
These are the busiest travel periods of the year, and all that demand can lead to sky-high prices if you wait too long to book. Think of it like a “Goldilocks” window: You’ll want to book earlier than you would for a normal flight any other time of the year … but not so far in advance that you wind up overpaying
Lucky for you, there’s some rock-solid data from Google Flights to help set you straight.
- For Thanksgiving, the data shows the sweet spot is between 26 to 59 days before departure – with prices typically bottoming out around 45 days beforehand.
- Over Christmas and New Year’s, Google’s data shows you’re likely to find the lowest flight prices booking between 36 and 72 days before travel, with the lowest prices coming roughly 58 days out.
- For Spring Break, it’s a bit tougher because that travel timeline varies across the country. Still, the data shows that March or April spring break flights are lowest between 33 and 59 days before departure.
When to Book a Flight
Any other time of year, the best time to book is when you find a cheap flight! The best flight deals rarely last long … so when you see the deal, book it ASAP.
Worried about jumping the gun before consulting with your friend or partner or asking for time off work? Don’t worry – that’s what the free 24-hour cancellation policy is for: Any flight to, from, or within the U.S. booked directly with the airline can be canceled for a full refund within 24 hours of booking.
Plus, all the major airlines have ditched change fees on most tickets, letting travelers change or cancel their flights for free – so long as you don’t buy the cheapest basic economy fares. That means if you change your mind later, you can simply change your flight or cancel it for a voucher.
Wondering how far in advance you should book? That’s a bit tougher to pin down – and it can vary wildly based upon how far you’re traveling. Our general rule of thumb is:
- For domestic flights, you should book at least three weeks before departure. We often find the lowest domestic flight prices one to three months in advance.
- With international flights, you’ll want to book earlier: At least two months before departure. We tend to find the best deals on airfare abroad three to six months in advance.
Tools for Finding Flight Deals
If you’re searching for cheap fares with online travel agencies (OTAs) like Expedia and Priceline, it’s time to rethink things. OTAs purchase flights from the airlines to sell on their site – sometimes at a discount, and other times at a markup. You can’t always count on big savings through these sites … and even when you can, it may not be worth the potential headaches unless the savings are massive.
Instead, start each and every search with Google Flights.
Google’s search tool pulls flight pricing from nearly every airline, giving you the most up-to-date pricing. You can easily set filters, browse the calendar for the cheapest dates to travel, and search the world map for the cheapest destinations from your airport. Once you’ve found the perfect cheap flight for you, Google Flights sends you to book directly with the airline.
Google Flights is incredibly user-friendly, featuring some of the most powerful tools and filters for getting the best flight deal. Here are a few you should know about:
- Set Google Flights price alerts on your travel dates, then get an email alert when the flights you’re eyeing go up (or down) in price
- Not sure where you want to go? Use Google Flights Explore to see and book flight prices worldwide from your airport, helping you find the cheapest destination by letting you explore what’s available
- Search to (or from) multiple cities to find the cheapest fares in your area
You can always compare the flights you find through Google Flights against your other favorite flight search engines like Expedia, Orbitz, Skyscanner, or others. But we always recommend booking directly with the airline rather than with online travel agencies.
Bottom Line
It’s time to let go of the myth that searching on Tuesdays – or any specific day – is the key to finding cheap flights. Like it or not, there’s not a best day to book flights. Not anymore.
The truth is that you can find an amazing flight deal on any day of the week. And when you do, you should book it. We promise this mindset will change the way you book travel … for good.
