When Is the Right Time to Book Your 2022 Holiday Travel?

Photo: Dyana Wing So on Unsplash

You were preparing yourself to deal with the pandemic two years ago, hoping to ride out the difficult situation at home. Now you are looking for the best flight deals and time to fly. You are making travel plans for this holiday, and you are not alone. Everyone is out there, and they know that it is not easy to acquire a flight ticket at a cheap price.

A large number of people around the world are looking forward to holidays for traveling and making good use of them after a long backlog of wanderlust. There is a renewed interest in people traveling with the gradual removal of COVID-19 restrictions and the availability of boosters. With these things around, there arises a question, “When is the right time to book a flight for the holiday travel in 2022?”

Here's what the experts say.

1. Reserve a flight that fits your budget – As soon as possible

You can try any trick to save money on flight tickets, it is worth considering how airfares have increased this year, particularly after the pandemic and with inflation. If you find the price of the airline ticket affordable and within your budget, you can book it as soon as possible. Given this situation of travel recovery and rising inflation, airfares are unpredictable.

You can book your tickets immediately on a reliable travel website if the fare is acceptable to you. Come September, it is the best time to look for cheap airline tickets and book them as early as you can without any hesitation.

Photo: Nicole Geri on Unsplash

2. Regularly check the prices, don’t just wait for September

It is worth locking in some of the gains of booking a flight even now, though September is conventionally the best time to book holiday flight tickets. The pandemic has made traveling by flight unpredictable. The airfares keep fluctuating, and hence, it’s advisable to keep searching for the best prices without waiting for September. Most experts suggest that you book a flight if you see the right price.

Don’t expect the airfares to drop in September, for no one knows for certain what will be the state of the aviation industry later this year. Consider booking your holiday airline tickets as and when you find a decent deal. This requires you to have a regular check on the airfares until you get the best offer.

Some leading travel websites can help you track flight prices daily. They send notifications on any changes in fares and help you watch over price fluctuations. Based on the market conditions, they also make predictions about an increase or decrease in airfares every month. All you need to do is to keep monitoring the ticket fares and buying as and when you come across an appealing price.

3. Unable to book now? Wait till autumn

For booking flights for Thanksgiving and Christmas in winter, it is better to wait until fall as it may help you get the best prices. Of course, searching for flights will enable you to find tickets at fares affordable to you. Nevertheless, some factors like seasonality are to be considered, for the time you should keep searching for low flight tickets. It is said that you can find the cheapest flight tickets within 94 days before a winter trip, while they are 84 days, 94 days, and 89 days for spring, summer, and autumn respectively.

You can choose to book a flight before late September. If you are not able to find the best airfare, then try booking around late September or early October. It will help you get some discounts on flight charges. The other option is to travel on the holiday itself to save a considerable amount of money.

4. If it's possible, purchase a refundable ticket

As mentioned earlier, you don’t know when the airfares change, making them unpredictable. You need to research and monitor the fares before booking a flight at the price you see right. Given these unpredictable airfares, it hardly matters when you book your tickets, but it is better if you can book a refundable ticket or at least an exchangeable one. It will help you if something comes up later. Nevertheless, go through the airline’s refund policies before booking a flight.

On the flip side, you can’t predict the airfares in this given situation. If you could see the best price that is affordable, it would be a good idea to book a flight immediately.