Testing 40 of the UK’s most popular flight routes this week, momondo found that statistically for 100% of these routes, it is it cheaper to depart earlier in the week (between Mon – Thurs), rather than later in the week (between Fri – Sun).
Travel search site momondo.co.uk’s new Flight Insight tool analyses millions of prices on flight routes departing from the UK, to determine when it’s cheapest to fly.
Testing 40 of the UK’s most popular flight routes this week, momondo found that statistically for 100% of these routes, it is it cheaper to depart earlier in the week (between Mon – Thurs), rather than later in the week (between Fri – Sun).
This was a uniform trend, despite the individuality of each route, distance and flight time, including both domestic and international routes.
And looking at these 40 routes, for 58% of them, the cheapest departure day was a Tuesday. For 28% of the routes, it was cheapest to depart on a Wednesday. And for the remaining 14% of routes, it was cheapest to depart on a Monday, or Thursday.
By studying these 40 routes, momondo found that by departing earlier in the week, on the cheapest day of travel (between Mon – Thurs, depending on route), momondo found Brits can save on average, 18% on flight price – as the cheapest day’s flight price, was on average, 18% lower, than the most expensive day’s average flight price. And looking individually at some routes, this saving went up to 36%.
Britons depart on most expensive days
Despite this trend, the majority of Brits depart on the week’s most expensive days – Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which on average, between all 40 routes, costs 22% more than the cheapest day’s price. And on some routes momondo found the airfare, departing on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, rises by a massive 46%, of the price to fly earlier in the week, when it is cheapest.
“The majority of Britons like to leave for a holiday at the end of the working week, preferring not to wait until Monday to set off. However, we found that with some flexibility in your schedule, you can save a lot of money by departing in the beginning of the week instead,” explains Julie Pedersen, Spokesperson at momondo.
Along with day of departure, the cost of an airfare is strongly influenced by factors including the number of days before departure, time of day, season, airlines serving the route, and airports of departure and arrival. These factors are highly individual for each route, and should be taken into consideration by travellers wishing to save money on their flight.
The new tool “Flight Insight”, was introduced by momondo to provide users with a greater insight into how airlines set their prices, showing which factors to watch out for, when searching for the cheapest fares. The tool appears at the top of the search results on momondo, after a user specifies a set flight search. It is currently available on over 700 routes world-wide, and being added to further routes daily.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
