It’s every traveler’s dream to find cheap holiday flights.
After all, it can be challenging to book a flight for Christmas when just about everybody and their mother is also trying to nab a seat. So it’s common knowledge that many savvy travelers try to book holiday flights well in advance to secure a good deal.
But now, some sources say you might actually be able to save money by waiting to book a flight. Wait, say what?
As we all know, there’s no magic time frame when you will be guaranteed to find a cheap holiday flight back home or for Christmas vacation. But what’s a great time to book a flight if you didn’t get a chance to during the summer? It seems that it all depends on who you ask.
Recent data from Skyscanner suggests that another window of saving money on holiday flights may open the week of November 6. Hipmunk, on the other hand, released an analysis that said that the week of September 25 (yikes, that’s coming up soon!) might be the best time to find good deals.
“[As] long as you book before Halloween, you’ll usually avoid the highest prices,” Adam Goldstein, Hipmunk’s co-founder and CEO, said in a statement.
Why is Halloween the cutoff for Goldstein? Apparently, most bookings for Christmas (and Thanksgiving!) flights happen at the beginning of October which, as Goldstein put it, drives the prices beyond “point of no return.”
But the fare prediction app Hopper suggests that Christmastime tickets could be cheapest in… early October, of all times!
The truth is, if you want your best shot at securing cheap holiday flights, your best bet is to set price alerts right now, perhaps using a site like Hipmunk or an app like Hopper.
“Flight prices for holiday travel tend to fluctuate through September and October,” Goldstein said. “So it’s best to set a fare alert.”
Google Flights’ low fare calendar can also be your best friend when you have time to search for specific flights and days that you’ll need to be away.
Happy booking — and good luck!
This post was originally published on Woman’s World
