If you’re like most Americans, you plan your big vacation for the summer months, when the weather most places is optimal! With that in mind, we’ve been crunching the numbers over here to hook you up with the absolutely best days to fly.
CheapAir.com’s done the analysis on hundreds of thousands of summer airfares and we have come up with some pretty interesting takeaways. First of all, know that summer fares are overall priced higher than typical fares in the spring, fall or winter (with the exception of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays). So, keep realistic expectations about reasonable fares for this popular time to fly.
You can find discounts if you know where to look. To begin with, if you can swing it, avoiding flights on the weekend will save you some dough. The cheapest days of the week to fly are Tuesdays and Wednesdays. You’ll save $62 on average if you avoid Sundays (the most expensive day to fly) and instead jet off mid-week. That may not seem like a huge amount, but for a family of 4 it adds up to a savings of $248 total. That’s the cost of two night’s budget hotel room or a couple of upscale dinners on your trip. Heck, that’ll cover your food budget for the week if you’re keeping it simple.
It’s also a great idea to avoid the month of July if budget is a consideration since July is historically the most expensive summer month to fly. The later you get in the summer, the better the airfare and accommodation prices for most destinations (excluding Labor Day weekend, of course). Of course, you have to look at this measurement as a moving target. The closer we get to the summer (and further into the summer months), the more expensive those relatively inexpensive airfares in late August and September will become. As a rule of thumb: start shopping for your summer flights as soon as you have the money and can pull the trigger on a good fare.
Please scoot on over to our Summer Flights page for more great tips and a calendar of the summer months. This will give you a breakdown day by day of the cheapest and most expensive days to fly from June 1 to the end of summer. Let’s get those summer plans in motion!