October DealsAmazon USOctober deal check: compare before you payAmazon US: current deals, useful picks and tech finds.Check DealsPC HealthRecommendedCrashes, freezes, slowdowns? Check your PC nowSpot repairable issues before they interrupt work.Check PCOctober DealsAmazon USDeal season is back - check today's better picksAmazon US: current deals, useful picks and tech finds.See Picks×
Skip to content
The Finance Base
The Money Desk · Blog
Re:

What Expedia’s 2024 Report Says About Booking Cheap Flights

Expedia’s 2024 report found historical booking patterns for airfare, including 28-day domestic and roughly 60-day international lead times. The figures are benchmarks, not fare guarantees.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read
Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

Expedia’s 2024 Air Travel Hacks Report recommended booking domestic flights about 28 days before departure and international flights around 60 days ahead, with international bookings made no more than four months out. It also identified Sunday as the cheapest day to book in its data and advised considering departures before 3 p.m. These are historical patterns—not guaranteed savings or predictions for a particular itinerary.

When should you book a domestic flight?

Expedia recommended booking a domestic flight 28 days before departure. In the report, travelers who booked then saved up to 24% compared with those who booked at the last minute. The percentage is an upper-end finding from the report’s historical data, not a promised discount on a current fare or a specific route. Expedia’s report announcement

How far ahead should you book an international flight?

For international airfare, Expedia recommended booking around 60 days before departure and no more than four months in advance. The report associated that window with average savings of around 10% and better availability. These figures describe the report’s findings; they do not establish the best purchase date for every destination, season, or traveler.

Is Sunday the cheapest day to book flights?

In the report’s booking data, Sunday was the cheapest day of the week to book and Friday the most expensive. Expedia reported average savings of up to 13% associated with booking on Sunday rather than Friday. That is a historical dataset pattern, not a rule that outweighs route, travel dates, demand, or the fare available when you search. OAG’s summary of Expedia’s report

Free tools Windows power users keep installed

One-click scans. No signup required.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

Are earlier flights less likely to be canceled?

OAG’s summary of the report said flights departing after 3 p.m. had a statistically 50% higher chance of cancellation than earlier departures. Expedia’s recommendation was to consider flying before 3 p.m. to reduce exposure to disruption. This was a historical finding about flights originating in the United States, not a forecast of the cancellation risk for a particular flight. It does not mean an earlier flight cannot be delayed or canceled.

What data supports the recommendations?

The booking-day and booking-window recommendations were based on average round-trip ticket prices for January through August 2023, drawn from ARC’s global airline sales database. Expedia released the 2024 Air Travel Hacks Report in 2023 and described it as an analysis conducted with ARC and OAG. The booking-price data therefore has a global scope as described in the report’s footnote.

OAG says its Metis data supported capacity, cancellation, and flight-status analysis for flights originating in the United States. The price findings and cancellation finding should not be treated as if they came from one dataset with the same geographic coverage. Neither source establishes that the reported patterns still hold for fares available today.

Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Support on Ko-Fi

How to apply the findings without treating them as guarantees

  1. Use the lead times as planning benchmarks. For a domestic itinerary, start checking around four weeks ahead; for an international trip, use roughly two months as a reference and avoid assuming that booking earlier than four months will improve the fare.
  2. Compare actual fares across dates. A Sunday search may be worth including, but compare the same itinerary and fare conditions rather than assuming the weekday alone determines the price.
  3. Consider departure time as a reliability trade-off. If minimizing disruption matters, compare departures before and after 3 p.m.; the report’s statistic does not guarantee a particular outcome.
  4. Make the decision using current itinerary details. Destination, travel dates, demand, availability, and fare conditions may outweigh a broad historical average.

Expedia offers flight search and booking, but the report’s historical recommendations alone do not show that its booking service will provide the lowest fare for a particular trip.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.
Best Value
Catching Flights Not Feelings Off To Thailand Travel Hardcover Journal, Black
  • Catching Flights Not Feelings Off To Thailand Travel Thailand Travel Catching Flights Feelings Design Perfect Catching Flights Not Feelings Off To Thailand Adventure Explore Solo Traveler Group Travel Digital Nomad Exotic Destinations New
  • Catching Flights Not Feelings Off To Thailand Travel. Are you the type who chooses adventure over emotions? This design screams and the urge to explore Thailand. It's perfect for those who live for the thrill of travel and cherish every journey.
  • Hardcover journal with 240 line-ruled pages (120 sheets)
  • Built-in elastic closure and ribbon bookmark
  • Includes an expandable inner storage pocket and a pen holder
Rank #3
Foldable Flight's Incredible Paper Airplanes — Step-by-step Instructions, Video Tutorials, and Illustrated Folding Paper
  • Includes:
  • Step-by-step instructions for 15 original paper airplanes
  • Links to video tutorials
  • Illustrated folding papers (2 copies for each plane)
  • Tips and tricks for improving the performance of your paper airplanes

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

More post from the Money Desk

  1. The Money DeskBlogTheFinanceBase09 OCT 267 minMortgage Escrow FAQs: Taxes, Insurance, Shortages, and Refunds
  2. The Money DeskBlogTheFinanceBase09 OCT 265 minHow Mortgage Escrow Accounts Work and What Homeowners Pay For
  3. The Money DeskBlogTheFinanceBase09 OCT 265 minHow to Read a Stock Chart, Volume and Market-Cap Data
Recommended PC Tool
Recommended PC Tool
Crashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?Free driver scan
PC Slower Than It Used to Be?Free scan - under a minute

Two free Windows tools

One Free Minute Could Fix That PC

Before you go - each of these free tools takes about a minute and tackles what quietly slows a Windows PC down.

Special offer. View Outbyte info, uninstall instructions, EULA, and Privacy Policy.