{"id":15245,"date":"2025-06-04T09:00:06","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T14:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.netcredit.com\/blog\/?p=15245"},"modified":"2026-03-12T09:48:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T14:48:05","slug":"how-far-in-advance-should-i-book-a-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.netcredit.com\/blog\/how-far-in-advance-should-i-book-a-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"How Far in Advance Should You Book a Flight?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A changeable economy, concerns over safety and the new Real ID rules have led to a fall in demand for domestic flight tickets, and prices have followed. In March this year, airfares were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/news.release\/cpi.nr0.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">5.3% lower<\/a> than March 2024 levels and 12.1% lower than a decade ago.<\/p>\n<p>But even though airfare prices are lower in general, it\u2019s still prudent to shop around for the best deal, particularly if you are trying to stick to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.netcredit.com\/blog\/how-to-budget\/\">budget<\/a>. Services like Kayak and Google Flights offer price tracking and comparisons between airlines; Google <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.google\/products\/search\/holiday-travel-trends-insights-2024\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">suggests<\/a> that the \u201chistorical low price range is 21-52 days before takeoff\u201d for domestic flights.<\/p>\n<p>To help you find the best point in that window to book your domestic flight, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.netcredit.com\/\">online lender NetCredit<\/a> analyzed Google Flights data and mapped the ideal advance booking period to each state. We also created a searchable table of the recommended period to book flights to 141 of America\u2019s most vital hub airports.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Key Findings<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>When booking flights to <strong>Alaska<\/strong>, it\u2019s best to book <strong>49 days<\/strong> in advance \u2014 the longest planning period for any state.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rhode Island<\/strong> is the best state for late bookings, with the cheapest tickets available <strong>21 days<\/strong> in advance of travel on average.<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s generally best not to wait until the month that you are traveling \u2014 tickets to <strong>34 out of 50 states<\/strong> are cheapest from <strong>30 to 40 days<\/strong> in advance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Flights to Alaska are best booked nearly two months in advance<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>If you\u2019re thinking of booking a domestic flight to Alaska, it\u2019s best to book around 49 days in advance. This is the longest advance booking period for travel to any state and more than twice the period recommended for booking to Rhode Island or Oklahoma. Note that when flying on Alaska Airlines, it may be possible to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alaskaair.com\/content\/travel-info\/policies\/how-to-manage-my-reservation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">exchange an expensive ticket<\/a> for a cheaper flight or call up to get a credit if you find your flight has gotten cheaper since you booked \u2014 as long as you didn\u2019t book the Saver Fare.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-15247\" src=\"https:\/\/www.netcredit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/The-Cheapest-Time-to-Book-Flights-to-Every-State-scaled.png\" alt=\"U.S. Map showing the cheapest time to book domestic flights in every state\" width=\"2267\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.netcredit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/The-Cheapest-Time-to-Book-Flights-to-Every-State-scaled.png 2267w, https:\/\/www.netcredit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/The-Cheapest-Time-to-Book-Flights-to-Every-State-266x300.png 266w, https:\/\/www.netcredit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/The-Cheapest-Time-to-Book-Flights-to-Every-State-907x1024.png 907w, https:\/\/www.netcredit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/The-Cheapest-Time-to-Book-Flights-to-Every-State-768x867.png 768w, https:\/\/www.netcredit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/The-Cheapest-Time-to-Book-Flights-to-Every-State-1360x1536.png 1360w, https:\/\/www.netcredit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/The-Cheapest-Time-to-Book-Flights-to-Every-State-1814x2048.png 1814w, https:\/\/www.netcredit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/The-Cheapest-Time-to-Book-Flights-to-Every-State-150x169.png 150w, https:\/\/www.netcredit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/The-Cheapest-Time-to-Book-Flights-to-Every-State-640x723.png 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2267px) 100vw, 2267px\" \/>Rhode Island has the shortest turnaround time between the cheapest fares and takeoff: just 21 days. However, it is worth tracking prices ahead of that 21-day sweet spot since Google\u2019s data suggests general trends rather than a hard and fast rule \u2014 such as the old idea that the cheapest flights are made available on Tuesdays. In reality, airfare pricing can be more volatile:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwenty-plus years ago, airlines used to load their schedules onto the internet once a week so that Tuesday myth might have been true then,\u201d says <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/travel\/article\/flying-in-2025-heres-how-to-find-the-cheapest-flights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Katy Nastro<\/a>, spokesperson for Going (formerly Scott\u2019s Cheap Flights). \u201c[B]ut these days, algorithms are so much more sophisticated. They don&#8217;t load their fares once a week, they do it in real time.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The best time to book flights to each U.S. hub airport<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Next, we arranged our findings into the interactive table below. You can use the search box and arrows to find how long in advance to book travel to each state and compare the options where multiple hub airports operate in your destination state.<\/p>\n<div style=\"max-width:100%;margin:auto;\"><iframe class=\"neomam-iframe\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.neomam.com\/the-cheapest-times-to-fly-in-america\/\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"display:block;margin:auto;max-width:100%;\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>For example, it\u2019s best to book 33 days in advance to travel to Kansas, but the optimal booking time varies between 30 and 40 days depending on whether you arrive at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (30 days), Blue Grass (38) or Cincinnati\/Northern Kentucky International (40). Similarly, we analyzed pricing for eight hub airports in New York, and the best booking time on average is 34 days in advance \u2014 but if you\u2019re heading for Albany International, it may be wisest to wait until 27 days before takeoff.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>7 ways to save money on domestic air travel<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Oftentimes, the high price of airfares is the cost of convenience \u2014 booking what you want, when you want and with little hassle. But if you\u2019re prepared to be flexible and do some research, savings can be made. Here are our top tips for keeping your travel bill down when flying domestically.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Use a flight comparison tool such as Kayak, Google Flights or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kiwi.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kiwi<\/a> to compare prices from multiple airlines \u2014 and set up price alerts to receive emails when an airfare drops.<\/li>\n<li>If you can be flexible in your choice of dates, you\u2019re more likely to find a bargain. Choosing to fly on an off-day or from a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.netcredit.com\/blog\/domestic-flight-cost-index\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cheaper airport<\/a> can help you keep costs low.<\/li>\n<li>Book your car park spot in advance \u2014 or leave the car at home and use public transit.<\/li>\n<li>Adjust your advance booking period for holiday seasons. The cheapest tickets for Christmas, Thanksgiving and the summer vacation period tend to get snapped up quickly.<\/li>\n<li>Already booked and seen a better price? Check if the airline you booked with offers to credit the difference when you change to a cheaper flight or seat.<\/li>\n<li>Planning to rent a car at the other end? Again, booking early in advance can net you the best choice and price.<\/li>\n<li>Compare and contrast <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cashnetusa.com\/blog\/cheapest-airlines\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">prices for flights from different airlines<\/a>, prioritizing those that offer the cheapest prices for domestic flights.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The outlook for air travelers looks promising as airfares continue to fall in general. But it is still worth planning long in advance to book your tickets, as airlines may respond to falling demand by reducing the number of flights available \u2014 potentially pushing prices back up towards 2024 levels. When even United Airlines claims it\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/united-airlines-to-cut-summer-flights-amid-recession-fears-2025-4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">impossible to predict this year with any degree of confidence<\/a>,\u201d it falls to the traveler to make the most of the pricing tools that are available.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Methodology<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>We analyzed pricing data from Google Flights to discover how many days you need to book in advance to get the cheapest flights to every international airport in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>First, we created flight routes from America\u2019s 50 busiest airports to each of the 141 recognized international airports in the country.<\/p>\n<p>We then searched for one-way tickets (economy class) for these routes and consulted the price history, which reveals what the price was for that flight up to 60 days before departure.<\/p>\n<p>Repeating this process for all 50 flight routes to each airport, we calculated on average how many days you should book in advance for the cheapest flights.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, we aggregated data for airports in the same states to determine the optimum number of days to book in advance for flights to every state.<\/p>\n<p>(Note: Delaware lacks an international hub airport, so it was omitted from state rankings.)<\/p>\n<p>Data is correct as of March 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A changeable economy, concerns over safety and the new Real ID rules have led to a fall in demand for &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":15251,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[626],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-improving-finances"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","pp_post_mime_type":"publish","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How Far in Advance Should You Book a Flight? - NetCredit Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover when the best time might be to book a flight from your state. 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