Everyone has heard the legends about the best times to book your flights. Some say book on a Tuesday for the cheapest fare, others champion booking as early as possible.
However a survey conducted by travel company Cheap Air has revealed there's no real best time to book flights for that trip away.
Although in general, the survey found that the prime time for booking your flight is approximately 54 days before takeoff, this varies depending on the location of the destination, or popular times to travel.
The company found there are five specific booking zones for your flight, with the prime booking zone usually between 22 and 112 days from time of departure.
They looked at a whopping 2,926,668 trips to complete their survey and looked at fares from 320 days to 1 day in advance.
The “First Dibs” Zone
197-335 days out (approximately 6½ – 11 months)
This when most airlines begin to sell flights, with fare on the high side. However booking at this time gives you a full choice of options when it comes to window seats, perks, or stopovers..
The “Peace of Mind” Zone
113-196 days out (approximately 3½ – 6½ months)
This zone is a little cheaper than the above one, but still cheaper than the prime window mentioned above (21-122 days out), usually saving $20 on average.
The “Prime Booking Window”
21-112 days out (approximately 3 weeks – 3 ½ – months)
This is the BEST TIME to book, folks. Although fares will fluctuate a lot, frequent checking of flight prices will mean the best fare is likely to come to your attention.
The “Push Your Luck” Zone 14-20 days out (2 – 3 weeks)
Things can vary dramatically within this zone, and your luck can swing both ways. You're more likely to get lucky if the destination isn't very popular at the time you're booking, so for example Spain in the winter would be cheaper than in mid-July.
The “Hail Mary” Zone
0-13 days out
This is the mythical last minute fares zone, and it turns out that all those stories of a return flight to California for €150 are just that, myths. You would have to be incredibly lucky to bag a good deal during this time.
