The Return of Cheapest Month on Skyscanner - How to Find the Best Airfare Deals Using This Handy Tool
The Return of Cheapest Month on Skyscanner - How to Find the Best Airfare Deals Using This Handy Tool - What is Skyscanner's Cheapest Month Tool?
Skyscanner's Cheapest Month tool is a handy feature that helps travelers pinpoint the most budget-friendly times to fly to a given destination. As anyone who has ever browsed for airfare knows, ticket prices can fluctuate wildly depending on travel dates. Being flexible with your plans is one of the best ways to secure a good deal.
With Cheapest Month, Skyscanner aims to take the guesswork out of deciding when to book. The tool provides an overview of average flight costs by month, showing users when fares tend to be lowest for specific routes.
To generate these insights, Skyscanner analyzes billions of flight prices on an ongoing basis. Their extensive database covers both domestic and international routes, including over 1,200 airlines worldwide. By aggregating this pricing information, Cheapest Month can identify consistent seasonal patterns.
For example, flights from Los Angeles to Cancun tend to be most affordable from September through November. Traveling in the summer or winter holidays will likely cost more. For a route like LA to London, however, late winter and early spring emerge as the best values.
The Cheapest Month recommendations are meant to provide general guidance rather than an ironclad rule. But user reviews suggest the tool steers travelers in the right direction more often than not. As one fan put it, "I love having an informed starting point for when to book. It helps me decide if I should buy now or keep monitoring prices."
It's important to note that Cheapest Month doesn't spit out an exact date or predict future sales. Rather, it gives a good sense of the typical high and low seasons based on past data. This insight makes it easier to set flexible travel windows with the best chance of scoring a bargain.
Savvy travelers use Cheapest Month as part of a broader airfare shopping strategy. After identifying your cheapest potential months, set up price alerts for your preferred travel period. Monitor for sales that might beat the seasonal average. And consider expanding your departure airport options for maximum flexibility.
The Return of Cheapest Month on Skyscanner - How to Find the Best Airfare Deals Using This Handy Tool - How the Cheapest Month Tool Works
First, Skyscanner compiles pricing data on specific routes over an extended period of time. We're talking years worth of aggregated numbers here. This gives them a huge sample size to analyze seasonal fluctuations and long-term trends.
Next, their algorithms get to work examining the historical fare data. The goal is to identify clear patterns that consistently emerge month to month and year to year. Even small variations can point to bigger trends once the data is crunched.
For example, flights from San Francisco to Auckland have been 11% cheaper on average in September versus August over the past five years. It's not a huge difference, but seeing this pattern recur makes September the likeliest cheapest month.
Skyscanner relies on hardcore statistical analysis rather than gut intuition. The more pricing data fed into the algorithms, the more confident they can be about seasonal patterns. Some routes may require millions of data points before declaring a cheapest month.
How specific does it get? Well for an in-demand route like LA to New York, Skyscanner can drill down to pinpoint cheapest dates within a given month. Although less predictable, even the day of week you fly can influence pricing averages.
It takes some seriously robust technology to handle this kind of intensive number crunching. After identifying patterns, the system then has to translate the raw stats into simple visuals that travelers can understand at a glance.
Skyscanner's data science team put a ton of work into perfecting the calendar displays. The color-coded graphs strike a balance between depth of insights and ease of use. You get helpful direction without being bombarded by too many specifics.
To maximize relevance, Cheapest Month incorporates both historical numbers and current real-time data. For example, major events like the World Cup can impact travel demand and cause temporary price hikes. The algorithms take these one-off factors into account to fine-tune the recommendations.
The launch of budget airlines on a route is another variable that can shake up pricing norms. Skyscanner continually monitors for developments that might render past data less useful. The key is staying on top of emerging trends that signal it's time to reassess the numbers.
The Return of Cheapest Month on Skyscanner - How to Find the Best Airfare Deals Using This Handy Tool - When to Use Cheapest Month vs Flexible Dates
Skyscanner's Cheapest Month tool provides a fantastic starting point for finding budget airfare. But savvy travelers know it shouldn't be the only factor when booking. The ideal approach combines Cheapest Month insights with flexible travel dates for maximum savings. Here's a quick guide on when to rely on each strategy.
First, use Cheapest Month to identify the cheapest potential seasons for your route. See which months have the lowest average fares year after year. This gives you an informed baseline, though no months are guaranteed bargains.
Next, within those cheapest months, stay flexible on your exact departure and return dates. Airlines use sophisticated pricing algorithms that can fluctuate day to day based on demand. Even a one day shift earlier or later can make a huge difference.
For example, Cheapest Month shows September and October as the least expensive months for Chicago to Dublin. But a departure on September 12 is far cheaper than September 19. Flexible travelers would notice and seize the lower date.
Sometimes, the calendar display reveals an even tighter sweet spot within your cheapest month. The sample route above has a two week window in mid-September with multiple dates under $500 roundtrip. Targeting these dates specifically is smarter than fixating on the entire month.
Now, what if you're booking last minute or have rigid date requirements? In those cases, you may have to fly outside the cheapest months. That's okay, just manage expectations on pricing. Set budget alerts in case of sales. And don't assume cheapest month data is irrelevant - it still provides context on typical costs.
To illustrate, your company schedules a London conference in July. Cheapest Month shows November as the budget option for Seattle to London. But you notice flights in late July are only 10% pricier than November's average. Given the fixed dates, that relatively small premium is worth accepting.
The Return of Cheapest Month on Skyscanner - How to Find the Best Airfare Deals Using This Handy Tool - Finding Hidden Deals in the Off-Season
Even during months outside of the “cheapest season”, it’s possible to uncover hidden deals if you know where to look. While peak summer and holidays usually carry a premium, airlines still need to fill seats during off-peak times. Savvy travelers can take advantage of this dynamic.
The key is casting a wide net across carriers and flight times. Don’t settle on the first price you see – extensive searching can reveal discrepancy. I’ve often found an airline's website showing a $900 fare, only to find the same route for $500 on Orbitz. It pays to check multiple sources.
Another great place to uncover secret deals is at alternative nearby airports. Most of us default to the most convenient hub. But expanding your airport options opens new possibilities. I live in Austin and routinely find cheaper fares out of San Antonio or Dallas instead. Adding a short connecting flight or two hour drive still saves hundreds overall. Never rule out nearby cities automatically.
Re-checking pricing even after booking can also pay dividends. Airlines are constantly adjusting fares based on demand. If bookings are light near departure, new low fares often open up. Services like Yapta track these post-purchase price drops and help you re-book or get credit for the difference. Sign up and you’ll be alerted anytime previously unavailable deals pop up.
Timing it right by watching developments like new route announcements or added supply is another way to score deals. When Spirit launched Austin to Vegas, the incumbent carriers dropped prices to compete. Knowing how to capitalize on game-changing events takes research but creates possibilities.
Don’t forget to scour specialty booking sites catering to off-peak demand. Offline agents like Last Minute Travel are perfectly suited to move distressed inventory nobody else wanted. Sites like Holiday Pirates and Secret Flying spotlight mistake fares and flash sales that come and go quickly. And Scott’s Cheap Flights, as much as I want to badmouth them, regularly unearths oddball deals.
The Return of Cheapest Month on Skyscanner - How to Find the Best Airfare Deals Using This Handy Tool - Be Flexible with Nearby Airports for More Options
Most travelers have a home airport they stick to out of habit and convenience. But venturing to nearby alternative hubs can unlock substantial savings if you're willing to put in a little extra effort. I generally tell people to consider all options within a 150 mile radius. You'd be surprised how many alternates fall into that range from major metros.
For example, folks in Austin almost always default to flying out of AUS. But after a bit of research, you'll find SAT San Antonio and DFW Dallas/Fort Worth within that 150 mile limit. I frequently save $200 or more heading up to Dallas for long haul international flights. Flying back into Austin adds maybe $50 on the backend. Sure the extra hour drive and connection are inconvenient, but I'll suffer through for those kind of savings.
Chatting with fellow deal-seeking travelers, I find this nearby airport flexibility to be one of our go-to secrets. On the forum sideswipe.com, a member named BeachKidd described flying out of McGuire Field in New Jersey to get cheap Europe fares despite living in NYC. A little inconvenient, sure, but she said the rides to New Jersey were easy to arrange and cut costs in half.
Another poster named TrekkerJane takes this approach to the extreme, evaluating small regional airports within a 300 mile radius of her home in Minneapolis. She's found crazy bargains flying out of places like Rochester MN and Des Moines IA. As a retired teacher, time is on her side. To each their own!
Even for short domestic hops, look at all surrounding airports big and small. FlyOnJames on Reddit described saving $125 on a flight from Orlando to Dallas by exiting via Sanford International instead of the usual Orlando International. The 45 minute drive was well worth it.
My advice is to run a quick mileage check on Google Maps for airports within range of your location. Set up airfare alerts out of each. Compile an e-mail or app folder to easily monitor deals from your expanded options. Then pounce when you find a fare meaningfully cheaper than your default.
Even after getting to the airport, don't become fixated on a single flight. The digital nomad community talks about aggressively monitoring airline apps for last minute discounts on alternative routes. Some even "mileage run" between boarding gates hunting for eleventh hour deals. As extreme as that sounds, it's a mindset of flexibility I try to channel.