THE best time to book flights and the best day to fly have been revealed – and it's different depending on where you're going.
The sharp rise in the cost of living has got people looking to save money any way they can, and holidays are one expensive area where cutting costs is really important.
However, people are still planning to go away as much as normal this year, if not more.
Price comparison site Skyscanner has launched a new tool to help people find out how far in advance they should book their trips and what day they should fly.
The tool works by letting passengers choose from 77 departure airports around the world, selecting when they'd like to fly and where they'd like to go.
It then uses data from previous years to work out an average monthly price for flights, when it's cheapest to book and what day flights are most affordable.
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Sun Online Travel put the tool to the test with some popular holiday destinations to find out when people should be booking their summer holidays.
The when to book tool revealed that for a holiday to Malaga in July, the average price for flights is £130.
However, holidaymakers can save £34 if they book 18 weeks before they fly and they can also save around £54 if they travel on a Tuesday instead of a Saturday.
Return flights for an August trip to Tenerife will set travellers back £279 on average, but that price can be reduced.
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Booking 32 weeks ahead could save as much as £87, while flying on a Thursday instead of a Saturday could also knock £37 off the total cost.
Finally, flights for a return trip to Rome in July are around £145 on average, but again savings can be made.
The best time to book those flights, according to the tool, is 18 weeks before flying, which can take £57 off the total price.
The cheapest day to fly is Tuesday, which can be around £49 cheaper than flying on Saturday, which is the most expensive day.
Laura Lindsay, Skyscanner’s Destinations Expert believes that price saving tool could help people save a lot of money this year.
She said: “Most people aren’t aware of some of the simple tips and travel hacks that could open up vast savings for them, which is now more important than ever.
"These insights don’t have to be driven by industry hearsay: at Skyscanner we have access to thousands of data points powering our recommendations to unlock this intel for everyone."
While Skyscanner's data provides quite specific data on certain destinations, there are generally cheaper days to book and to fly.
Consumer expert Harry Wallop told Sun Online Travel why that is.
He said: "It's not that strange or unusual to think that flights cost a different amount, depending on when you actually fly because just like there is peak season, there are peak days of the week.
"But what is slightly weird to people who aren't inside of the industry, is that the price fluctuates depending on the day you actually make the booking.
"And that's all down to this thing called dynamic pricing, whereby prices fluctuate up and down endlessly, depending on supply and demand.
"According to all of the number crunching by airlines, the cheapest day to book a flight is a Sunday.
"On a domestic flight, if you're booking on a Sunday, rather than booking on a Friday, it saves you about 20 per cent.
"On an international flight, it saves you about 10 per cent, which may not seem that much, but obviously long haul flights now are often extremely expensive, some are £800, so you're saving £80 – that runs into the hundreds for a family of four."
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Meanwhile, booking a "wonky weekend" could also save you money on a holiday.
And booking a mystery holiday is another way to get a holiday for cheap.
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