The summer travel season is here and despite price hikes, flight prices have increased by around 6% year over year for domestic travel and 10% for international travel in the second half of the year. According to KAYAK search data, people are continuing to prioritize travel with searches on KAYAK having increased by around 47% for domestic travel and about 16% for international travel vs. last year*.

To help travellers continue to navigate some of the increased pricing, KAYAK, the world’s leading travel search engine, is launching a new “Best Time to Travel tool” as the place to start a trip planning, uncovering optimal times of the year to fly and when to book by for a great price and trip experience.

With over 280,000 routes to choose from, KAYAK’s Best Time to Travel tool incorporates predictive data from KAYAK’s billions of travel queries to forecast future flight prices so travellers can easily compare pricing against weather and seasonality information to determine the best time to travel for their next trip. Let’s give it a whirl.

Step 1: Enter the destination – learn the best month to go
Plug in the home airport, final destination and choose from KAYAK’s most popular trip lengths (i.e. one is travelling for 4, 7 or 14 days). KAYAK will return the best month to visit based on a number of factors including price, crowds and weather. For example, March is the best month for Delhities (from New Delhi) to visit Toronto for a 7 day trip (one of KAYAK’s most popular summer travel destinations) for low flight prices, good weather and fewer crowds.

Travellers can also view a breakdown of the average, minimum and maximum flight prices for every month of the year. Continuing with KAYAK’s theme, flight prices to Toronto are generally highest during the summer months (May through August) and cheapest during the low season months like March.

Step 2: Narrow down the travel dates
If someone has nailed down which month to go, now it’s time to figure out which days to fly for less. KAYAK’s calendar view provides a yearly overview of how flight prices change depending on the dates one can choose. For a 7-day trip to Toronto, leaving on March 6 and returning on March 20 to March 26 will be the best bet.

Step 3: Time for booking window to maximize savings
Once someone knows where and when one is going, it’s time to figure out when to book. And guess what? KAYAK’s new tool has covered here too. Recommended dates from KAYAK will automatically populate and the tool will advise on the best day to book both flight and hotel before prices start to rise. For a 7-day trip to Toronto, KAYAK recommends booking the flight in October.

Not ready to book? No problem. Add a Price Alert so one knows exactly when prices will rise and fall for the flight or hotel one wants.

Mr. Tarun Tahiliani, Country Manager – KAYAK, said, “At KAYAK, every tech-backed tool is built to make travel simpler, cheaper and more efficient for users, be it our travel search engine that finds the great deals or the price alert that makes it easy to lock in the best price. The Best Time To Travel tool is the next natural progression for us, since it addresses a key pain point – uncertainty while planning. Using our search data, including weather forecasts, price forecasts, projected crowds, and much more, we’re removing the guesswork for the travel planning process. With our predictive analysis, travellers can rest assured that they’re choosing not just the best month to travel but also the most economical booking window. We’re using our data to give travellers the information they need to make decisive actions and ultimately simplify the planning process for everyone.”

Additional results from the KAYAK.co.in Best Time to Travel tool using a 7 day trip*:

Data Methodology
*Based on flight and hotel searches made on KAYAK.co.in and associated brands between 01.01.2023 and 22.06.2023 for travel between 01.07.2023 and 31.12.2023. They were compared to searches for the same period in 2019 and 2022. All prices are current at publication and may vary over time. Destinations have been calculated using searches on kayak.co.in. All prices are average prices for economy, return tickets with departure from any airport in Australia. Prices may vary and savings cannot be guaranteed. Percentages for changes in searches are approximate.

‘Best Time To Travel’ Methodology
With over 280,000 routes to choose from, KAYAK’s Best Time to Travel tool incorporates data from KAYAK’s billions of travel queries to forecast future flight and hotel prices so travellers can easily compare pricing against weather and seasonality information to determine the best time to travel and to book for their next trip.

Flight prices are predictions based on analysis of current and historical minimum roundtrip prices for one traveller. Prices include monthly averages as well as the greatest and least percentages in intervals of ten for each trip length. With the data, KAYAK tries to forecast future minimum price trends – these estimates are subject to change and should be interpreted as a rough directional guide. For full details on the Best Time To Travel methodology, please visit https://www.kayak.co.in/best-time-to-travel.