To Book a Flight

The best of the week for booking a flight, according to the expert.

There are so many airline companies, destinations and bookings that searching for the best flight for your money can seem like a pin in a haystack. Your search for the best flight for your needs will be a real challenge. You can either find the right flight, but it takes too long to book it and fares go up, or the fares seem to fall in a mysterious way when you're not on your computer.

Prior to boarding a Delta (DAL - Get Report) or JetBlue (JBLU - Get Report) flight, make sure you book the flight at the most convenient moment. So what's the best date to book a flight? Which is the best flight of the week to book?

Airlines and travellers have long thought of Tuesday as the best flight booking date of the year. Patrick Surry, Chief Data Scientist at Hopper, a fare forecast service, says the best flight booking date of the month is Thursday.

"On Thursdays, there is a 3.4% or around $10 local saving and a 3.5% or around $25 global saving if we approach the issue from a full days view. "Websites like Hopper or Expedia (EXPE - Get Report) use information to make you the best offer.

And according to Surry, this science trail will help you keep an eye on when certain tickets fall in prices. "Like Hopper, use an application that uses billions of points to tell you exactly when to book for the best deals," Surry says. "As a general guideline, if you are travelling to a typical travel location (e.g. New York, Washington, D.C.), try to book at least three month in advanced.

So if your journey takes you to a more leisure-oriented location (e.g. Hawaii, Cancun), try to book at least a months in advance to make sure you don't pay too much," Surry said. You should review the price for both the date of your flight and the date of your reservation to find the best offer.

Expedia also suggests using red-eye or non-direct air travel to conserve cash, as it is not as popular as one-way travel. On Tuesdays are the rates cheaper? Investigations showed for a while that Tuesdays were perhaps the best days to book a flight. "Previously, travellers could find the best fares on Tuesdays," says Hudson, "but since carriers have started to use machines to calculate fares on the basis of market demands, it is no longer so simple to set a particular date or a particular hour for purchase.

" "Research shows that it's less about which days of the week you book and more about which days you begin your journey," Hudson said. However, despite the best days usually Thursday to book both national and internationals, Surry of Hopper claims that certain Tuesday flight times may actually be less expensive for certain travel.

"However, the best time to book home travel is Tuesdays at noon ( 6% saving potentials or $18 on average)," Surry said. So, while the best time to get hold of inexpensive tickets to national and foreign destinations is generally Thursday, make sure you try your option at 12:00 on Tuesday for comparison.

On the best possible date, when it comes to air travel at home and abroad, the professionals seem to be at odds. Expedia professionals say that both national and supranational Hopper's departures are different. "No matter whether you are making a reservation for a flight at home or abroad, our research shows that Sunday is the best reservation day," Expedia states.

According to current 2018 research, Surry says otherwise. If you actually leave (stating your date of departure), the Hopper researcher says that Wednesday might be cheaper. "Generally, the best date for departures, both for home and abroad, is Wednesday. You can expect an approximate saving of $40 on your home flight and $60 on your overseas flight.

" However, Hopper said that returns from home travel on Tuesday are least expensive, with an annual saving of $45, while returns from overseas travel on a Wednesday can cost you up to $60. Hopper and Expedia both agreed that you should usually book your flight one to three month in advance in order to make the most of your cost saving (and security) - and perhaps even earlier during the main vacation periods such as June or July.

In order to get the best rates for flights, the season in which you book or travel is, according to professionals, a critical part of the whole procedure. "February is the best months for US travellers for overseas rates and December is the most costly. In September the most favourable tariffs were found, in June the most costly.

In addition, Expedia argues that the airline fare market has at last recognized the selling mistake of the retailing sector and is now selling lower priced tickets on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The most underestimated and missunderstood way to make savings on your travels is to book a flight and a room at the same airport, or rent a cheap automobile and a room at a nearby airport.

This way you can make savings of up to $600 on your account. After all, airline companies and hotel operators are willing to give lower rebates to those who are less likely than others to cancell their travel packages and want to spend more time at their destination," says Expedia. Nevertheless, Surry clients want a "golden rule" to find low-cost air travel - which, he says, doesn't even apply.

Instead, he suggests using a utility or application like Hopper to let you know when the best moment to buy a particular flight is - you' not only save cash, but also work. But apart from Hopper and Expedia, what other websites could help you book your flight simply and inexpensively?

After Travel+Leisure this year, other remarkable websites to use are Airfarewatchdog, Google Flights, Hipmunk, Kayak, Priceline and Skyscanner - to name a few.