Proven the best time to buy airline tickets

What is the best time to buy airline tickets? This critical question challenges travelers worldwide when planning flights. Using AI-powered data analysis and machine learning research, we attempt to provide data-driven answers.

We analyzed recommendations from multiple industry sources and combined them with our own AI research on millions of flight prices. The optimal booking window varies significantly by region and airline—patterns our machine learning models have identified and present below for each market segment.

US domestic

Source	Best time to buy	Best day to buy
Expedia	57 days in advance	Sunday
Momondo	53 days in advance
CheapAir	21-112 days in advance
FareCompare	1-3 months in advance	Tuesday
Skyscanner		Tuesday
Hopper		Thursday

US and North America international

Research made by Expedia in 2016 provides the following buying recommendations for flights departing from US and North America to international destinations.

North America to Europe: 176 days in advance
North America to Caribbean: 77 days in advance
North America to Asia-Pacific: 160 days in advance
North America to the Middle East and Africa: 144 days in advance
North America to South America: 90 days in advance

Similar study by CheapAir in contrast revealed that prices for international flights in general don't change from the start of sale period to approx 90 days to departure when they start to increase.

Within Europe

Most of the studies about the best time to buy airline tickets consider only US flights. There are just a few dedicated to inner-Europe routes.

According to Expedia, the best time to buy ticket within Europe is 140 days in advance. It is not clear though whether the study included low-cost carriers.

Low-cost carriers (AI-powered insights)

Low-cost carriers in Europe employ sophisticated dynamic pricing algorithms fundamentally different from traditional airlines. Their automated revenue management systems adjust prices multiple times daily based on demand signals. AirHint's machine learning research has analyzed millions of low-cost carrier fares to identify optimal booking windows:

For real-time predictions, try AirHint's AI-powered flight price predictor with airline-specific neural networks trained on these carriers.

From UK

There is a study by Skyscanner showing best moment to buy airline tickets departing from UK to different destination. The same study showed that the best moment to book short-haul flight is 7 weeks to depature.

Conclusions: Why AI-powered predictions matter

There is no universal answer about the optimal booking time—it varies by destination, season, airline, and route-specific factors. While traditional research provides general guidelines, airlines' sophisticated pricing algorithms adapt continuously to market conditions. Early booking reduces stress but doesn't guarantee the cheapest fare.

This complexity is precisely why AI-powered predictions are superior to generic advice. AirHint's machine learning models analyze your specific flight in real-time, considering airline-specific pricing patterns, historical trends, seasonal factors, and current market dynamics to provide personalized recommendations with 80%+ accuracy. Our neural networks deliver the precision that general guidelines simply cannot match.

For intelligent, data-driven recommendations tailored to your specific flight, use our AI-powered flight price predictor.