Travelling, who doesn’t love it? Exploring new places, experiencing new cultures, tasting new flavours.. I keep finding myself getting a travel fever all the time, looking for next possible destinations and daydreaming about my next trip.
The only issue most people might face when it comes to travelling is the cost. Especially if you are a student, it might be hard to find the money to cover the travel costs. Does the left column in the below image seem familiar?
You are eager to explore and experience new things. If it was up to you, you’d be travelling somewhere every week, right? Only thing that stands in your way are the flight prices. Well, it doesn’t have to be a problem. There are several tricks for finding inexpensive ways to travel. In this article, I’ll focus on booking flights, where the timing matters a lot.
Special occasions
Black Friday sales in November have gained a lot of popularity in Europe recently, pleasing consumers also in the travel industry. Many European and International airlines such as Ryanair, SAS and British Airways offer Black Friday discounts, where you can find great deals. Check out Skyscanner’s summary of last year’s Black Friday sales, in case you want to get an idea what kind of deals are out there. However, as the offers are available only for selected dates, you might need to be flexible. Also, be fast as they are a subject to availability!
Another day to mark in your calendar (especially if you are in Switzerland) is the Swiss National Day, August 1. To celebrate the Swiss National Day, Swiss usually offers flights to many European cities for just CHF 100 (around 88 euros) for a roundtrip. To my surprise, many people hadn’t heard about these sales before. I have used this offer and booked a few weekend trips in the past two years. Keep in mind is that the offers are not available for all the dates and the major holiday seasons such as Christmas.
These are two examples I have experience with in the past, and I’m sure most countries have similar offers on certain days, so just keep your eyes open. For example, I found out about the Swiss National Day sales through Facebook, so it might be worth following few of the airlines on social media.
Regular days
What if you don’t want to wait for Black Friday or other special occasions to book your flights? I do have some tips for getting a good price for your tickets then, too. It’s all about when to book and when to fly.
According to the Travel Pricing Outlook in 2019 Report, produced by Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) and Expedia, the best day to book your flights in terms of finding the best price is Sunday. The report also states that booking your ticket at least three weeks in advance is your best chance of finding low prices. In addition, the departure day matters. Surprisingly, departing on a Thursday or a Friday will most likely give you the cheapest price option, say Expedia and ARC.
If knowing when to book and when to depart is not enough, the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) 2018 Travel Outlook Report, also sheds some light on which months are the best to travel in terms of ticket prices. According to the report, which is also developed by ARC and Expedia, the best months for flying from Europe are March, May and September. If you don’t want to pay a fortune for the tickets, I would avoid travelling during the high season of June, July, August as, at least in my experience, that’s when the flight prices go through the roof. Yet, if you want to travel during the high season in the summer, I would advise you to book your flights at least a few months prior.
As I enjoy travelling and exploring new places so much myself, I want to encourage others to do the same, by showing that traveling doesn’t have to be expensive at all. I will keep sharing travel tips and experiences in the future, so stay tuned. In the meanwhile, happy booking – especially if you are reading this on a Sunday.
Sources
Header image money.com
Image in the article dopl3r.com
