If you’re thinking of travelling over the holiday season, a new list of travel tips has details on ways Canadians can save on airfare and the best time to book to get cheap flights.
Expedia has released its 2023 Air Travel Hacks report, detailing essential tips for saving travellers both time and money on flights.
The annual report, which was created with the Airlines Reporting Corporation, contains data-backed hacks travellers can use over the busy season.
As flight prices are predicted to rise over the holidays after a busy summer travel period, Expedia’s travel hacks offer tips for getting the best price on flights, what day and how long before your flight you should book, how to avoid disruptions and more.
Here are the top five travel tips from Expedia’s report.
Book on Sunday to save money
According to Expedia, Canadian travellers should book flights on Sunday to save some extra cash.
The travel company says that those who book on Sunday versus Friday tend to save about 15% on domestic flights and 10% on international flights, on average.
Book domestic flights at least two months in advance
Travellers can further save money by booking at least two months before domestic flights.
According to Expedia, travellers who booked domestic travel at least two months prior saved 40%, on average, compared to those who waited until a month before their flight to book.
Book international flights at least three months in advance
The same tip about booking in advance applies to international travel too.
Expedia says travellers who booked international flights at least three months before travelling saved almost 10% compared to those who waited until only a month before.
Depart before 3 p.m. to reduce chance of cancellations
After a busy summer season when many travellers were seeing tons of flight cancellations, Expedia has shared that Canadian travellers should plan to depart before 3 p.m. to reduce the chance of having their trip cancelled.
Citing year-to-date flight status data, Expedia says that flights that depart between 3 a.m. and 3 p.m. are the ones that are the least likely to be cancelled.
On the flip side, it says that flights departing after 3 p.m. have a 15% higher chance of cancellation.
Leave on Friday to save money on domestic flights
Expedia says that departing on Friday can save you money, rather than other days in the week.
The company says that Saturday-Monday are the priciest days to travel domestically, so you should avoid travelling on these days, if you can.
It reports that for domestic flights, departing on Friday versus the beginning of the week saved travellers 20%.
Thursday is also a better option for domestic travel, when travellers save 10%, on average.
International departures are, however, a bit different. When flying internationally, Expedia says Thursday is actually the cheapest day to travel, with Wednesday also saving travellers 5%.
Sunday and Monday, it said, are the most expensive days to travel internationally.
Best travel tips for 2022
Over the summer, CAA South Central put together a list of their top 10 travel tips for Canadians travelling both within and outside the country, and a lot of the advice is relevant for travel anytime.
Among the travel tips, CAA advised Canadians to expect schedule changes (and stay up to date with flights), have travel documents ready before booking, buy (and understand) travel insurance, and be sure to understand that COVID-19 is still a thing.
CAA also placed importance on staying connected while travelling, which can include regularly checking the Global Affairs Canada website, and being patient and kind — which is good advice for travelling whenever, wherever!
