In this guide6 sections
“Book on a Tuesday.” “Wait for a last-minute drop.” “Clear your cookies.” Those rules sound useful until you need a particular route on particular dates. A good fare has to work for your trip, not just arrive on the right day of the calendar.
On a recent Milan–New York trip, I checked nearby dates until a return fare of around €340 looked good for that route, and I booked about two months ahead. It was not a Tuesday, I did not clear my cookies, and I did not count down to a particular day. I had learned the usual range, so I knew a good price when I saw one. That was one trip, though, so we also looked at the fares Vollarie found over two weeks in September. Jump to the advice for your trip, or first see what our deals show.
When we found the deals
We looked at live fares with a known departure date and counted the days from when we first found each one to when the flight was due to leave. About 62% were 31–90 days away. The median was 51 days: half the flights were due to leave sooner than that, half later.
Close-in deals do turn up, but relying on one is risky for a trip you have to take.
When to start looking, and when to book
I usually start watching summer flights long before I expect to book. For an August trip from Milan to Bangkok I began checking about five months ahead, mostly to learn what a normal fare looked like. By three or four months out I knew the range, and about three months before departure I booked at around €720, with one stop. For August that was a good price. I can find Milan–Bangkok deals around €550 return, just not over the European holidays.
How early to start depends on how much you can move your dates.
| Your trip | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed dates or peak travel | Start checking around five months ahead, so you have time to learn the normal range. | It is what I did for Bangkok. |
| Flexible by a week or two | Around three months out is a good time to start comparing nearby dates and airports. | You have room to shift your plans when a good fare appears. |
| Leaving within a month | A close-in deal can still work, but only if the dates, destination and fare rules suit you. | About 28% of the fares we found left within 30 days. |
| Also depends on route | ||
| Domestic or international | Domestic: you can start a week or two later than the row above. International: use the row above, and don’t wait. | Google’s US data found domestic price lows closer to departure than international ones. |
A short flight across a border still counts as international for this comparison.
Counting down to the 51-day median helps less than knowing what your route normally costs. Compare nearby dates and airports until you can tell a good price from a low-looking one; Google Flights’ date grid and a price alert are enough to see the range. Then read the baggage, change and refund rules before you pay, because a low fare can cost more if they don’t fit your plans.
Unsure whether to book now or wait? With fixed dates, take a fare that suits you. With flexible dates or airports, keep watching and set up alerts.
Do flight prices go down closer to departure?
Usually not at the last minute. In Google’s US data, average prices bottomed out about 39 days before departure for domestic trips and 49 days or more for international ones (figures below).
Our own deals cannot show whether waiting makes the same flight cheaper. For some fares, we could compare the price with a usual price, meaning what the same route typically costs on nearby dates. We then looked at how big the discount was at different times before departure:
At first glance, those bigger close-in discounts make waiting look smart. But a bigger percentage does not always mean a cheaper ticket. A made-up example shows why: €150 is 50% below a €300 usual price, while €130 is only 35% below a €200 usual price. The smaller discount still costs €20 less. Check the price in euros, the dates, stops and baggage before you decide.
This compares different flights, not the same flight day after day, so it cannot tell you whether your flight would get cheaper if you waited. That is why every Vollarie deal shows the usual price beside the fare we found.
Is there a best day to book a flight?
Barely. The day you buy hardly moves the price; the day you fly does. Google’s US figures are below. We did not compare prices by hour, so we cannot name a best time of day to book.
- Buying day
- Only 1.3% less when buying on Tuesday than Sunday.
- Flying date
- About 13% less for Monday–Wednesday flights than weekend flights.
- Stops
- About 22% less for itineraries with a layover than nonstop flights.
These are US averages, not promised savings or booking deadlines for flights from Europe.
Why timing changes by route and season
Google’s US data also shows that the low-price window changes with the route and the season, so there is no single countdown that works for every trip.
- Domestic
- About 39 days (23–51 days is the low range).
- International
- 49 days or more.
- July–August
- About 21 days (14–43).
- Thanksgiving
- 35 days (24–59).
- Christmas
- 51 days (32–73).
Competition matters too. An Australian Treasury study (opens in a new tab) found lower average fares when another airline served a route. If a new service is announced, check your dates again, even when your trip is months away.
Our method and its limits
Vollarie watches hundreds of routes from your home airports and emails you when a fare drops far below its usual price. This snapshot uses 3,709 live fares with a departure date, first found between 10 and 24 September 2026. For each one, we counted the days from when we first found it to when the flight was due to leave. The discount chart uses the 2,267 fares we could compare with a usual price; how it works shows how that price appears beside each fare. Deals that had already expired were left out.
Whether waiting makes a flight cheaper is a different question. Answering it would mean checking the same flights regularly over time, which we have not done.
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Air France