Skyscanner reveals best day to book cheap airfares revealed

Airfares are still on the pointy end, but according to travel experts, there’s a particular day of the week where you can snag cheaper flights.

Airfares are still on the pointy end and while there’s hope it will ease next year, travellers are always looking for ways to snag cheaper flights.

But the ultimate question remains — when is the best day to book, especially over the next few months.

While many may think it’s Monday, online travel booking platform Skyscanner revealed Tuesday is generally a less popular day to travel, and because of this, it’s the best day to book a flight.

The research is based on its newly launched Savings Generator feature.

It comes as Aussie travellers are more budget-conscious than ever, with the rising cost of living playing a huge part in that.

Tuesday has been identified as the cheapest day for Aussies to fly this summer – December, January and February.

“Our Savings Generator shows that, on average, a Tuesday is the cheapest day for Aussies to fly this summer — December, January and February,” Jarrod Kris, Skyscanner’s travel expert told news.com.au

“It looks at the most popular routes (up to 30 destinations) for Aussie travellers booked over the last 12 months (August 2022 to July 2023) and shows the cheapest and most expensive day to travel, on average, for a set route each month.”

Mr Kris said Skyscanner data shows the average cheapest day to travel does vary across each month, but Tuesday still dominates for most.

For April it’s Saturday and for May, August and September it’s Wednesday, while November it’s Monday.

According to the travel booking site, this is likely down to the fact that Tuesday is generally a less popular day to travel.

Mr Kris also shared some hacks to help nab cheaper airfares such as selecting ‘calendar view’ on the website which shows the cheapest days to fly across whole months and setting up a price alert.

And it’s not just on Skyscanner you can do this — fellow booking site Kayak, and airlines including Qantas, Virgin and Jetstar also have this feature.

Findings from Expedia’s 2023 Air Travel Hacks report revealed those who booked at least three months before they travelled saved on average 30 per cent for domestic flights and 25 per cent for international flights.

It is compared to those who waited until the last minute, which is generally within 30 days out for domestic and 90 days for international.

Finder’s travel expert Angus Kidman previously told news.com.au he is “very much a Tuesday traveller”.

“I always aim to book domestic flights between Tuesday and Thursday. That’s generally when the cheapest sale seats are available too.

“Added bonus: The airport queues are usually shorter too.”

He said airlines often run sales on a particular day of the week – Virgin on Thursdays, Jetstar on Fridays.

“But they don’t make all future fares cheaper just because it’s a Tuesday.”

Meanwhile, according to the Expedia report, booking a midday flight can help reduce the chance of cancellations.

“Based on year-to-date flight status data, flights that depart between 3pm and 9pm have a 30 per cent higher chance of being delayed, on average, than those that depart at midday (9am to 3pm),” the report read.