When is the Best Time of Year to Book a Holiday?
Booking a holiday early is usually the best policy - but not always.
In most cases, you'll pay less for your holiday the earlier you book it. This is because travel companies want to fill up plane seats and hotel rooms ahead of time.
This may sound like the dynamic pricing model used by airlines for standalone flights, but it differs in that holiday prices can fluctuate - including near the departure date if there is spare capacity to fill. With airlines, prices tend to start low and rise as time goes on.
Don't book your holiday too early
According to a study by consumer publication, Which?, booking ahead is generally the cheapest approach. The biggest savings were found for Greece, where a seven-night holiday cost on average £242 less when booked seven months in advance. Trips to Turkey and Portugal were around £200 cheaper.
However, the same report found that booking too early didn't always yield the biggest savings. Instead, organising a summer getaway in December and January was found to be the most wallet friendly.
Is it cheaper to book a holiday last minute?
While the last-minute holiday has become synonymous with lower prices, the Which? study found that this wasn't generally the case in 2023.
They determined that booking a week before departure was more costly because of general price increases, or because there was less capacity left - or most likely, a mix of both of these.
The dearth of last-minute deals in 2023 may have been due to the surge in demand for holidays following the pandemic; less capacity meant fewer last-minute bargains.
Will there be more last-minute holiday deals in 2024?
The availability of last-minute packages in 2024 will depend on demand.
The cost-of-living crisis may prompt some UK families to cut back on holidays - which could result in a raft of cut-price breaks as the peak summer period approaches.
Spain and the Canaries: The Exception in 2023
Which? found that booking in advance was not the cheapest approach to booking trips to Spain and the Canaries. For these destinations, last-minute booking was the most affordable.
This was probably because travel firms over-anticipated demand among British holidaymakers.
When is the Best Time to Book a Last-Minute Holiday?
Different studies and travel firms give different answers to this question.
TravelSupermarket states that "for last-minute three-night holidays, the cheapest time to book is usually four weeks before you would like to depart."
MoneySavingExpert, meanwhile, suggests that "traditional packages are usually cheapest for seven, 10, or 14 days away in traditional holiday destinations".
What's the best month to book a holiday?
According to Which?, for the popular summer destinations of Greece, Turkey, and Portugal, December yielded the lowest prices, on average, when it came to the best time of year to book a holiday for those destinations.
The report found that January was the second-best month to book a summer holiday - although it was the cheapest time to book an Italian getaway.
Indeed, prices were on average £150 cheaper in January compared to booking last minute.
What's the best month to travel?
If avoiding delays is a priority, Expedia's 2023 Travel Hacks report determined that March is the best month to travel. Of course, that may not be the case in 2024.
Cheapest time to book a holiday
Avoid school breaks
Peak summer during the school holidays is generally the most expensive period to book an overseas break. This is because as demand rises, so too do prices - a phenomenon sometimes known as ‘price gouging’.
Summer is also the most popular time to travel due to the better weather.
If you have the flexibility, choose a 'shoulder' month just before or after the school holidays or just before or after the season ends; you'll enjoy lower prices, less intense heat, and fewer crowds.
As such, May, June, and October are among the best times of the year to take holidays.
The Easter school holidays also tend to be more costly.
Booking Two Weeks Ahead vs One Week
Which? learned that booking a holiday two weeks before departure was still cheaper than booking one week ahead - adding further doubt to the 'last minute is cheaper' hypothesis.
What's the cheapest day to book a holiday?
Data from flight booking firm Skyscanner reveals that booking six months ahead will deliver the biggest savings - although the sweet spot is even further ahead for some destinations. However, for some cities, it's cheaper to book closer to the date.
Your best bet is to keep track of prices in the months before your rough departure date. You can set up price alerts from the big travel search engines.
What's the cheapest day to fly out?
Tuesday tends to be the cheapest day to fly, with Saturday usually the most costly - according to Which?
Similarly, a Google survey found that Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays were cheaper.
However, there is no fixed rule; you may find that the reverse is true - it all comes down to demand for a given flight.
Other ways to save on the cost of your holiday
If you're flexible about your destination, you could make big savings.
Skyscanner, for example, can present a list of low-cost flights available from the UK (or a number of other departure points).
It's also worth bearing in mind that flight search engines like Skyscanner don't always present the cheapest routes. If you're willing to book a series of separate flights with a combination of international and regional airlines, you may get yourself a bargain. However, you will have to check in your baggage for each flight - unless you're travelling with hand luggage only.
This approach is also likely to take longer than using a flight search engine.
And if you're open to long layovers, you could bag some big savings. However, spending 50+ hours in planes and airports will result in some serious jetlag!
Will holiday availability be a problem in 2024?
Availability is unlikely to be an issue - assuming you have some flexibility in terms of destination.
Thousands of summer holidays remain unsold for the summer.
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