There is nothing more exciting that booking your flights for a trip overseas. Once the flights are booked and confirmed, you can be confident that you really are going away, and that’s when the holiday planning can really begin.

Flights are, in general, the most expensive part of any holiday, especially if you are flying long-haul, and so it is important that you do some research before booking your tickets. The adage, “the early bird catches the worm” really doesn’t apply when it comes to flight bookings, but waiting until the last-minute doesn’t work either. You need to find the perfect booking date if you are to bag yourself a flight bargain, and here are some top tips on how to find it…

Best Time to Book Flights

So, when is the best time to book your flights? Well, according to Momondo, you should look at booking your tickets exactly 60 days prior to departure, when you could save up to 34% on the cost of your flight.

It is not only the date that is important, but the time too. If you book your flights in the evening, they could work out up to 9% cheaper than if you book them in the morning., so relax, pour a glass of wine, and book your flights when you get home from work! You could save yourself a small fortune.

Most people already know this one, but the day on which you travel will have a huge impact on the cost of your flight ticket. If you want or need to fly on the weekend, you could pay up to 8% more for the privilege, but if you can fly on a Tuesday or a Thursday, you can make great savings.

Then we come to the departure time of your flight – yes, this really does count too, but it all depends on where you are flying. If you are looking for a winter holiday to Asia, choose a flight that departs your home destination early in the morning. You could save 7% on the cost of your ticket when compared to an evening departure – and that 7% will go a long way in Asia!

If you intend to book a multi-destination trip, compare your options before you book. You may find that an open-jaw ticket including all your stops is significantly more expensive than booking individual tickets – especially if you are travelling to various airports within one country. Many budget airlines do not work with the larger code-share operators, and so they will not show up on a multi-sector flight plan.

Finally, keep your eyes open for error fares! They happen all the time, and while the airlines do not have to honour incorrectly priced tickets, many of them do!  Return tickets from London to Cape Town for £240.00 per person – with error fares it’s possible, but you need to be savvy to find them, and you need to be quick to book when the opportunity presents itself.