Today, Expedia® released its 2023 Air Travel Hacks Report, providing the latest essential tips to save travellers time and money on flights. Created in partnership with the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) and leveraging insights from its massive air ticket database, the annual global report has become an authority for eight years running on air travel trends, revealing data-backed hacks for travellers, including:

• Best day of the week to book airfare and catch the lowest prices
• The sweet spot for booking airfare
• How to minimize the risk of being impacted by delays and cancellations
• Cheapest day of the week to depart

View the full 2023 Air Travel Hacks report on the Expedia blog, including more ways to avoid flight delays, maximize loyalty and rewards programs and save on every trip.

Top tips from the 2023 Air Travel Hacks report include:

• Book flights on Sunday[1] -  Travellers who book domestic flights on Sundays instead of Fridays tend to save, on average, around 20% on domestic flights and 10% on international flights.

• Book at least two months before domestic flights and four months before international flights to save between 20-30%[2] - Travellers that booked in these periods tended to save 20% on average on domestic flights and 30% on international flights compared to those who waited until the last minute.
• Depart before 11am. to reduce the chance of cancellations[3] - Based on year-to-date flight status data, flights that depart before 11am are 11% less likely to be impacted by flight cancellations.

• Depart on a Saturday for domestic flights and Friday for international travel to save on average 15%[4] -   For domestic flights, depart on Saturday to save 20% on average, a slight change from 2022's findings which recommended a Friday. For international flights, depart on Friday to save 15%, the same as 2022 findings.

• Best month to travel to avoid delays[5] - March is the safest month to travel with the shortest average length of delays compared to July with the highest (184 minutes on average).

“This report does more than save people money,” said Jon Gieselman, president of Expedia Brands. “It's about the time savings and peace of mind that comes with knowing you have industry leading data-based tips at your fingertips to inform booking decisions.”

“While it has been a volatile recovery, our data indicates travel is beginning to normalize with travelers taking advantage of flying again,” said Chuck Thackston, managing director of data science and research at ARC. “Airlines have improved their performance while both capacity and traveler demand continue to increase. We're also starting to see business travelers return to the skies following the surge of leisure travel in the first half of 2022.”

Data sources

1 Best day of the week to book recommendation is based on average round-trip ticket prices for January through August 2022, sourced from ARC's global airline sales database.

2 Ideal booking window recommendation is based on average round-trip ticket prices for January through August for 2022, sourced from ARC's global airline sales database.

3  Safest time of day to travel recommendation is based on January through August 2022 flight status data sourced from OAG's global flight data platform.

4 Best day of the week to depart recommendation is based on average round-trip ticket prices for January through August for 2022, sourced from ARC's global airline sales database.

5 Safest month to travel recommendation is based on January through August 2022 flight status data sourced from OAG's global flight data platform. 

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About Expedia

Expedia® is one of the world's leading full-service travel brands, with a mission of helping travellers get the most out of every trip they take by providing everything they need all in one place, ensuring they are getting the most out of every trip they take, and above all else, feel supported every step of the way.   

Our commitment to insights matched with our unprecedented scale allows us to understand our travellers better than anyone else, delivering exactly what they need, when they need it. Our personalized experiences backed by incredible technology enable us to deliver the widest selection of product offerings across accommodations, transportation, activities, and experiences that help you get the most out of your journey.   

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About Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) 
An industry leader in air travel intelligence and omnichannel retailing, ARC provides platforms, tools and insights that help the global travel community connect, grow and thrive. ARC enables the diverse retailing strategies of its customers by providing flexible settlement solutions, innovative technology and access to the world's most comprehensive air transaction dataset. In 2019, ARC managed more than $97.4 billion in transactions between airlines and travel agencies, representing more than 302 million passenger trips. For more information, please visit www.aircorp.com.