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The Best Day to Book a Cheap International Flight Just Changed
By Pete Grieve MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE
Expedia’s new report reveals the cheapest days to book and fly in 2026.
The cheapest day of the week to book an international flight is now Friday, and the best day to book a domestic flight is Saturday.
Expedia found a 3% savings on international flights for Friday bookings versus Sunday, the most expensive day to book, a company spokesperson said. On domestic routes, there’s a 2% savings for bookings made on Saturday versus Monday, which is the priciest day to book.
The day you travel — and how far in advance you book — has a bigger impact.
According to Expedia’s 2026 Air Hacks report, flying internationally in August is the cheapest month. By the end of summer, many Americans are already back from summer trips and routes are less busy. Fares can be $120 cheaper on average versus December.
For domestic air travel, the cheapest day to fly is Tuesday, during the midweek lull. Domestic flights on Tuesday are 14% cheaper than on Sunday. Friday is the cheapest day to fly internationally, with flight prices 8% less expensive than on Sunday.
A separate Google Flights report said flights on earlier weekdays (Monday to Wednesday) are approximately 13% cheaper than weekend days.
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Tip: Start planning summer trips now
Now is a good time to start planning your international summer travel. While international flight prices are typically cheapest in the month and a half before a trip, looking at flight options in late winter or early spring gives you time to monitor price movements.
Old travel wisdom about booking flights six months in advance no longer applies, travel experts say. Expedia reports that international travelers save an average of $190 booking 31 to 45 days in advance. That may be cutting it too close for most people: Airfares are not guaranteed to fall, and your departure options could become more limited if cabins sell out.
The absolute cheapest time to book international flights is a week or two in advance, according to Expedia and Kayak reports. But again, that’s not practical in most situations. “Leaving it so late can backfire as it gives you little room for flexibility,” Kayak advised in an August report.
Allowing yourself only a few weeks to plan lodging for a June or July trip in a popular destination isn’t ideal, either. Instead, set up price trackers now for summer season flights, and you can watch for a deal in the coming weeks.
Experts also recommend avoiding crowded business travel routes when possible. “Business travelers head home earlier in the week these days, so new opportunities are opening up for leisure travelers to save by choosing smarter travel days,” Melanie Fish, head of Expedia Group Brands public relations, said in a release last week.
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Pete Grieve is a New York-based reporter who covers personal finance news. At Money, Pete covers trending stories that affect Americans’ wallets on topics including car buying, insurance, housing, credit cards, retirement and taxes. He studied political science and photography at the University of Chicago, where he was editor-in-chief of The Chicago Maroon. Pete began his career as a professional journalist in 2019. Prior to joining Money, he was a health reporter for Spectrum News in Ohio, where he wrote digital stories and appeared on TV to provide coverage to a statewide audience. He has also written for the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Sun-Times and CNN Politics. Pete received extensive journalism training through Report for America, a nonprofit organization that places reporters in newsrooms to cover underreported issues and communities, and he attended the annual Investigative Reporters and Editors conference in 2021. Pete has discussed his reporting in interviews with outlets including the Columbia Journalism Review and WBEZ (Chicago's NPR station). He’s been a panelist at the Chicago Headline Club’s FOIA Fest and he received the Institute on Political Journalism’s $2,500 Award for Excellence in Collegiate Reporting in 2017. An essay he wrote for Grey City magazine was published in a 2020 book, Remembering J. Z. Smith: A Career and its Consequence.