Mentally bonding over shared experiences with canned sardines is no fun and it makes you ask, is it really worth it to buy the cheapest flight there is? Is there no other way to book flights? There sure is if you know when to look for cheap flights. Timing is everything.
I have found so many different sources on the internet about when to book flights. You can see them pinned them on my pinterest page on travel hacks. But whenever I consult them, the booking advice just seems so arbitrary. Are flights really best to be booked 8 weeks in advance? What about domestic flights? What about when I am not in the country? So many questions and so little answers and so I set out to find what exactly the best times are when you book flights.
Is It Wise to Book Flights Way in Advance?
Turns out, the advice is very country specific. I know, this sounds like something that might be a no brainer or is it? I generally stick with two major price comparison sites, swoodoo and (watch out, affiliate link*) Skyscanner, which I found usually had the best deals wherever in the world I was. However, for flights within Australia I naturally stuck with regional airlines and for Japan I found out that the best deals are found on Japanese website, such as Expedia.
Ok, regional airlines tend to have the best prices for regional flights but what if you are travelling on long-distance flights and not always from the same country? Prices vary a lot depending on where in the world you book from and where you are going. For instance, if you wanted to visit Istanbul, you would have to book your flight 19 weeks in advance if you left from the UK but 8 weeks if you were in Germany. If your starting point were the USA, you’d have to check 9 weeks in advance.
Both Location and Timing Matter with Flight Booking
Like I said, booking flights is arbitrary. It gets even more confusing if you are travelling within Europe. I checked the best times to check flights in advance for flights leaving Germany and it doesn’t make sense to book a flight for Berlin 8 weeks prior to the flight as opposed to one week for Antalya. Go figure. And before I’d lose my sanity, I made a little overview to refer to whenever the next booking time comes around for you or me.
I hope it provides better guidelines even if I can’t promise clarity on the metrics of flight price setting. But what I can promise is some more budget hacks coming this way in a free email mini course. For instance, knowing what the best times for flights from the US are could save you $201 according to Skyscanner. Just imagine what learning about other great travel booking hacks could save you! If you want to learn all the ins and outs of travel booking and not just the booking times, then I recommend you click this button right below and then scroll down for the overview of all the different booking times.
*PS: An affiliate link just means that I get a small commission if you buy from the link at no extra cost for you. Just imagine me affording half a chocolate on a long haul flight from this. And me being eternally grateful, of course.
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