When it comes to booking anything travel related, the earlier, the better, whether that is for peace of mind, availability, or price. But how early exactly do you have to book your international flights to get the best deal possible? CheapAir.com’s 2024 International Airfare Study looked at 917 million airfares across the world to determined how many days in advance American travelers should be booking flights in 2024.
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This Is How Early You Should Purchase an International Flight if You Want the Best Price
Infographic: CheapAir.com
While flying to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the South Pacific requires a lot of advance planning, taking a last-minute trip to the Caribbean, South America, Central America, Mexico, Asia, and Canada is a lot more affordable, although you still need to get your ducks in a row at least one month in advance.
The best time to book an international flight changes every year and depends on a variety of factors including big events in certain geographical region. For example, in 2023, the best time to book a flight to Europe was only 45 days in advance but with the Summer Olympic Games taking place in Paris this summer, the lowest airfare for the region is now to be found 320 days early. The trend is reversed if you want to travel to the Caribbean this year; in 2024, you’ll find the best price only 29 days in advance, while in 2023 you needed to book your flight 56 days early. With the 2026 Winter Olympic Games taking place in February in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy, you should start planning early for your next European travels.
The study has also yielded CheapAir.com with some interesting data about the best days of the week for Americans to book cheap international flights (Tuesdays and Wednesdays), the best month (February), and the worst one (July). With February well behind us, you may have to do some digging to find good deals on airfare.
CheapAir.com has also looked at the best time for Americans to book domestic airfare in 2024 and found that the best time to purchase domestic travel tickets is 42 days before departure. 