Why you need to book your Spanish summer holiday ASAP: Which? reveals when to book cheapest flights to top holiday spots
EXPERTS have revealed the best time to book your flights this year for a summer holiday, depending on which city you are heading to.
The recent study, conducted by Which?, looked at when the cheapest flights could be found for 22 cities, both short and long haul.
Some destinations are best to book at short notice if wanting to visit during the August summer holidays.
For example, the cheapest deal for Faro in Portugal was found just five weeks before travelling – meaning booking around July.
Similarly, Athens and Budapest were cheapest six weeks out for August, so around late June.
But if wanting to visit some Spanish cities, you will need to be booking much further in advance.
For example, the cheapest flights to Seville were found 25 weeks ahead of travel – so you would need to book your August holiday around March.
Other Spanish destinations you would need to book around May for the best deal include Valencia (12 weeks ahead), Barcelona (13 weeks ahead) and Majorca (13 weeks ahead).
The European destination you’d need to book furthest in advance is Paris, with a huge 26 weeks ahead of August being the cheapest time (so booking by the end of next month).
Other European destination booking times include:
- Amsterdam – 15 weeks
- Berlin – 24 weeks
- Lisbon – 16 weeks
- Prague – 19 weeks
- Tenerife – 10 weeks
Wanting to go further afield? The best time for a bargain New York summer is when it is booked around June, with a similar time for Bangkok flights.
But if you’re wanting the absolute cheapest flight, you will have to ditch the summer holidays altogether – all but three of the short-haul destinations were found to be the cheapest in January.
Lisbon had the cheapest fares in December, while Nice was cheapest in November and Majorca was cheapest in March.
Naomi Leach, Deputy Editor of Which? Travel, said: “Our research threw up some surprising results and suggests some holidaymakers could save significant sums of money by targeting the right time to book their flights.
“For those looking for a bargain trip, our findings show January is generally the cheapest time to fly short haul, as long as you don’t mind the cold weather.
“It is worth setting up flight alerts with Google Flights or Skyscanner to track the best prices for your desired destination to find the best time to book a great deal.”
Another recent study by Which? found the most affordable destination for holiday packages.
The study looked at 5,590 package holidays on sale with three of the UK’s biggest tour operators – easyJet holidays, TUI and Jet2holidays.
Dalaman in Turkey was found to be the cheapest, with a seven-night package with return flights around £859pp on average.
Also cheap was Agadir in Morocco, costing around £889pp for a similar holiday package deal.
What is the cheapest month to fly for long-haul destinations?
- Bangkok – January, February or March (cheapest return fare – £386)
- Cape Town – March (cheapest return fare – £472)
- New York – March (cheapest return fare – £201)
- Sydney – November (cheapest return fare – £525)
- Tokyo – November and December (cheapest return fare – £397)
Here’s another way to find cheap flights, according to a flight attendant.
And we’ve revealed how to always find TUI’s cheapest flights.