Find out the best time to book your travel plans
Some travel costs are inescapable; after all, you’re probably not going to get a free hotel room or discount tickets to Disney World. However, you can cut costs on your next trip — you just have to know the right time to book your journey.
Whether your next vacation involves planes, trains, cars or cruise ships, take a look at these expert tips for booking your travel.
The best time, on average, to buy airline tickets for a domestic flight is 54 days before departure, airfare shopping engine CheapAir found by analyzing 921 million airfares. However, there is a prime booking window when prices are lowest that falls between 21 days and 105 days before departure.
Fares can fluctuate a lot during this window, but it’s the best time to find a bargain on a flight, according to the CheapAir’s 2017 Annual Airfare Study. Passengers will pay at least $20 to $50 more per ticket, on average, by booking more than 105 days in advance of a flight. And if you book between zero and 13 days before departure, you’ll pay about $150 more.
You can use CheapAir’s When to Buy Flights tool to pinpoint when cheap airline tickets are available for flights you want to take.
CheapAir tracks fares on a daily basis for more than 11,000 markets during the holiday season, and has found that the cheapest airfares for Thanksgiving holiday travel are available in August and September, said Jeff Klee, CEO at CheapAir. The cheapest flights for Christmas are found in September and early October.
However, the days you choose to fly during the holidays also make a big impact on price and how far in advance you should book.
“If you are traveling on the peak days — the Wednesday before and Sunday after Thanksgiving — not only should you expect to pay a hefty premium, but it’s also more important to buy early, because most flights will eventually sell out,” said Klee. “On the other hand, if you are flexible with your travel dates, you can better afford to wait a little longer.”
When to book an international flight depends largely on where you are going. To get the best price on flights to Canada and Mexico, book 60 days in advance, according to CheapAir. For flights to South America, the best prices are available about 80 days before departure.
However, flights to Europe need to be booked 99 days in advance to get the lowest fare.
For Asian destinations, the best prices are available 90 days before departure. Flights to the Middle East need to be booked 119 days in advance. And the best fares for Caribbean are available 76 days before departure, according to CheapAir.
The best prices for hotel rooms can be found 30 days before your arrival, said Cheryl Rosner, CEO of boutique hotel booking website Stayful. This holds true even for peak travel season and stays during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
If you don’t tend to plan that far in advance, you’re not out of luck. There’s another window of opportunity to get a good price seven to 10 days prior to a stay, she said.