If you're starting to plan your travels for the year ahead, new data from Skyscanner could help you land the best deal. According to the online flight price comparison site, the cheapest day to fly out of the UAE is Friday — and the best fares can be found, on average, 21 weeks before flying.
Skyscanner analysed millions of flight bookings over the past year across its most popular destinations.
It found that Friday is often the cheaper day to fly, but prices depend on where travellers are flying to and from and at what time of year.
For instance, travellers flying to Doha from Dubai are likely to find cheaper flights departing on Wednesdays, but if travelling to Qatar from Sharjah, then Tuesday flights are likely to be cheaper.
And while Fridays are one of the cheapest days of the week to travel, this can vary depending on the destination and calendar month. For instance, travellers heading to the Maldives from Dubai in December will find cheaper fares on a Wednesday, while those going in April will find the best fares on Thursdays.
The optimum time for booking flights is 21 weeks ahead of departure dates on average, though fares from Dubai to London are best found 27 weeks ahead.
Abu Dhabi to London flights are often best priced 23 weeks in advance.
Shorter-haul travel follows different rules again with some of the best fares for travel between Abu Dhabi and Jeddah found five weeks before departure.
Skyscanner's new Savings Generator
“Most people aren’t aware of some of the simple tips and travel hacks that could open up vast savings for them, which is now more important than ever,” said Ayoub El Mamoun, Skyscanner travel expert.
“These insights don’t have to be driven by industry hearsay: at Skyscanner we have access to thousands of data points powering our recommendations to unlock this intel for everyone.”
Skyscanner's Savings Generator tool calculates savings based on the 15 most popular routes each month of the year.
In a year where, according to Skyscanner’s research, travel is set to boom, the easiest way to secure a good price is to compare options across operators, dates and destinations.
Airline passengers may want to use Skyscanner's price alerts, which send notifications when the price changes on airfares that travellers opt to follow.
