The best time to book flights for cheap airfare in 2025 – The Points Guy

It’s time to start monitoring and booking your spring break flights.

At TPG, one of our key goals is to help you find the cheapest possible airfares. However, finding valuable airline deals during peak travel times depends on a few factors.

Flights during the holidays, spring break and peak summer periods are often much more expensive. There are still ways to hedge your bets and get better deals than others — but some of the common tips people tout are flat-out false.

For example, have you ever heard that booking a flight on a certain day of the week will yield cheaper results? Perhaps you have a cousin who claims he found a great deal when he checked on airfare prices at 12:01 a.m. on a Wednesday. Maybe your friend swears by setting a reminder on their phone for 1 p.m. on a Thursday when shopping for flights.

There’s just no truth to those legends.

While there’s no shortage of rumors floating around at any given time, here’s what airfare experts say about how timing influences airfare prices, so you can maximize airfare savings.

Historical data suggests that the best window to score low prices for domestic spring break airfare is almost upon us. I’d strongly advise readers to start looking at flights now, set Google Flights alerts and grab deals as soon as they see them. Easter falls on April 20 this year — so we are almost within the optimal window for spring break scouting.

In general, my advice for finding the cheapest prices ahead of time is to monitor the search starting three months before the dates you want to travel. (Though, obviously, you should jump on any deals you find before that.)

Travel booking site Hopper — which relies on 10 years of data and 80 trillion flight prices to recommend the best time to book routes and dates — says the general rule is to book flights between 25 and 150 days prior to takeoff.

That lines up with what Google suggests, too. “For trips within the U.S., average prices have been lowest 38 days before departure,” James Byers, group product manager of Google’s search team, said in a 2024 travel trends report. “The historical low price range is 21-52 days before takeoff.”

I’m a huge fan of Google Flights because you can set alerts for particular destinations.

Say I want to go to Miami for spring break. Using Google Flights, I’ll search for flights in April from Chicago to Miami. In this case, the cheapest dates I could find were for April 16-29 on Spirit, for just $88 round-trip.

But if I don’t want to go for that long, fares can bump up much higher.

I can also click on the “Date grid” button to see when prices are lowest.

International trips generally have an earlier window; ideally, you want to book trips abroad 3-5 months in advance.

Again, Google Flights can be your best friend here. Here’s a Google Flight alert I set for a one-week trip to Mexico in late April. You can see the cheapest option currently is for a Delta flight (operated by Aeromexico) for $366 — but Google Flights also tells me “Prices are currently high,” so it might make sense for me to toggle the button that says “Track prices.”

Now I’ll get an email when prices drop. The search is also saved in my Google Flights tracking page, so I can monitor flights over time.

Here are some other tips for spring break flights (as well as other peak travel windows and holidays):

• When cash prices are high, dip into your stash of points and miles. Remember, one of the core mottos of the points and miles space is “Earn ’em and burn ’em.”
• Try flying on nonpeak days, going to your destination earlier, or staying longer. You’ll often score a better deal, for example, if you go home for Christmas for a few weeks, rather than a few days.
• If you can fly on the actual holiday itself, you’ll often get a better deal. Flying on Thanksgiving, New Year’s Day or Christmas Eve can save you big bucks.
• Be flexible with days and times. Often, you’ll get the best deal on a flight leaving at 6 a.m. instead of 10 a.m. Depending on the price differences, it can be worth getting up at 4 a.m. to save some cash. Same goes for red-eye flights, which are often the cheapest flights of the day.
• Look for alternative airports. For example, flying into San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport (OAK) instead of San Francisco International Airport (SFO) can save substantial money.
• Look for deal alerts. Sign up for social media accounts that send out deal alerts — and subscribe to our daily newsletter, where we often publish airfare deals.

Is there a day that’s cheaper than others to book a flight?

It’s a question we get asked all the time: “What’s the cheapest day to book a flight?” There’s a common belief that certain days are better for finding flight deals; however, research shows that this is a myth.

There is no magic day to book — but there are some sweet booking windows when airlines lower prices, according to Lindsay Schwimer, a consumer travel expert at the booking app Hopper. As mentioned earlier, those windows usually fall roughly one to three months out for domestic travel and three to five months in advance for international flights.

“When you’re traveling internationally, planning ahead is key to getting the cheapest airfare,” Hayley Berg, Hopper’s lead economist, said in another interview. “Travelers often book international flights too far in advance or too last minute, overpaying significantly for their tickets.”

Of course, this strategy changes pretty dramatically if you book with points and miles. Airlines often open award space for coveted business- and first-class seats either when schedules open or at the last minute.

As for whether there’s a particular day that’s cheaper than the rest for booking, Schwimer said that “there’s no one day or golden rule when to book.”

Berg echoed this sentiment.

“There’s a common myth that ‘booking on a Tuesday’ will guarantee a traveler the best price,” she said. “The reality is prices change so often and depend on the route, the travel dates, etc., that there isn’t one day that guarantees you the best price.”

What’s the best day to travel?

Although airfare prices fluctuate based on when you book, midweek travel is generally cheaper than flying on weekends. That said, Sundays can also be a sweet spot.

“Flying midweek can save you nearly $100 off your ticket,” Schwimer said. “So when you’re thinking about when you want to travel, try shifting your dates midweek versus flying over the weekend. If you can be flexible and book either a Tuesday or Wednesday versus a Friday or Saturday, you’re gonna save significantly off your trip.”

Berg had similar thoughts.

“Travelers who fly midweek, usually Wednesday, can save an average of $56 per ticket on domestic airfare throughout the year,” she said. “Midweek savings spike over $60 per ticket during busy spring break and summer vacation months, while flying midweek over the holidays can save you $100 or more.”

“We always recommend booking the first flight of the day, not only to avoid delays and cancellations but also in terms of price,” Schwimer added. As we mentioned earlier, you’ll often find those early departures can save you some big bucks. It’s not easy to set the alarm for 4 a.m. — but it’s easier to wake up when you know you’re saving money.

So, how can you use this information to your advantage when buying airline tickets?

Try using a price monitoring tool to get real-time updates to help you decide when to travel for the lowest fare. We’ve highlighted how tools like Google Flights and Hopper’s “Watch This Trip” can help you track the price of your desired route before booking, notifying you when prices are lowest for your trip.

When to book holiday travel

Best time to book flights for spring break

Use the domestic and international guidance above to help shape your spring break trip planning. For example, if your spring break falls in March, the ideal time to book for a domestic trip is early February; if you’re going abroad, maybe try to lock in your plans before the holidays. Keep in mind that demand surges during the spring break period after the doldrums of winter. Many people wait too long to book those trips and end up paying more than they need to.

As we mentioned at the top, Easter lands late this year, on April 20 — so keep that in mind for trip planning in 2025.

Best time to book flights for summer trips

Using the general guidance we’ve emphasized, the window to start scanning for your summer holiday in Europe is also opening up imminently — start monitoring flights in February, and book three to five months beforehand. Given how southern Europe gets particularly popular in the summer high season, a bit of extra time on top of that window might not go amiss either.

Berg recommends planning ever farther in advance for longer-haul transpacific flights. “For trips to Asia and Oceania, we recommend booking five to seven months before takeoff,” Berg said. “For Europe and other regions of the world, we recommend booking anywhere from three to six months before departure to get the best prices.”

The best time to book flights for Thanksgiving and Christmas

For the cheapest domestic trips, plan on booking Thanksgiving flights in early to mid-October and Christmas trips by Halloween. The cheapest holiday airfare deals are generally available in October.

“We tell people to start monitoring in August,” Schwimer said, “but our typical book-by date is mid-October, so usually around the 14th of October.” She added that “no later than Halloween is usually our book-by date for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

Similarly, a Google Flights booking trends report suggests that average flight prices around Christmas are lowest approximately two months before departure. Based on search and booking data, Google says Thanksgiving prices are lowest 45 days before departure, and Christmas prices are lowest 58 days before departure.

It’s far too early right now, but I’d begin setting alerts for flights home to California for the holidays in August or September.

In the example below, you can see I set a Google Flights alert last year for a 12-day trip from Dec. 21 to Jan. 2. Google sent me an alert (via email) when the price dropped.

Google also told me that prices at the time of my search were “high,” so it made sense to wait.

I also like Google Flights’ feature that lets me see a graph of prices for similar time windows; it might help me decide on which dates to go home for the holidays.

Prices only start to rise once you get about a month before the holiday. But remember, you don’t want to book too early, either. Prices also are usually pretty high when airlines first load schedules — so follow our timeline for the best opportunity to score a deal.

That’s why I strongly encourage folks to set Google Flights alerts and carefully monitor prices. Better yet, use refundable points or miles in case you find a better deal. You might also want to lock in a lower cash price if you are booking with an airline that will give you a flight credit if the price drops.

Related: Airlines that offer you a credit if the price of airfare drops

Best time to book flights for New Year’s Eve

As with Christmas flights, Hopper recommends locking in bookings for New Year’s by Halloween at the latest.

That is true for “really any of the major winter holidays,” Berg said. “We recommend booking further in advance. I would book that New Year’s Eve trip as well before Halloween.”

What about hotels?

Hotels don’t require you to book quite so early; you can usually wait until much later and still score good deals. However, do keep in mind that if it’s a popular spring break destination (think Miami or Cancun), you’re unlikely to find discounts last minute, so it really is destination-dependent. That said, it could be a great time to use hotel points to book your stay: sometimes, hotels open up award availability last minute, even in popular destinations.

Cities that aren’t traditional spring break hot spots will likely have good prices even last minute. For example, a hotel I recently stayed at in Malta — Corinthia Palace Malta — has rooms during spring week for as little as $230 a night, when rooms during high season are $320 or higher.

“We often see good deals last minute for hotels in big cities. Something to keep in mind … especially for those holiday weekends,” Schwimer told TPG. “And you know that [during] the Christmas holiday period, you can often find some really great last-minute deals in big cities if you wait.”

Bottom line

While there is no magical time or day to book airfare for the best prices, your best bet is to fly midweek, specifically on Wednesdays, for both domestic and international travel. Flying over the weekend can come at a significant price premium, though Sundays have occasional deals.

Try booking domestic flights one to two months ahead of time; for international flights, your best bet is to aim to book three to five months ahead of the trip. But remember: If you’re using airline miles, it’s never too soon to start checking and booking.

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