Despite inflation Canadians are still itching to travel – but that doesn’t mean that travellers don’t want to get the best bang for their buck, or do their utmost to avoid potential delays that can disrupt or taint their trip.

Expedia’s 2023 Air Travel Hacks Repot offers essential tips to save travellers time and money on flights. Created in partnership with the Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC), and leveraging insights from its massive air ticket database, the annual report has become an authority for eight years running on air travel trends, revealing data-backed hacks for travellers, and those who book them, including: Best day of the week to book airfare and catch the lowest prices; the sweet spot for booking airfare; how to minimize the risk of being impacted by delays and cancellations; and cheapest day of the week to depart

Top tips from the 2023 ‘Air Travel Hacks’ report include:

• Book airfare on a Sunday to save on average 15%. Travellers who book on Sundays instead of Fridays tend to save, on average, around 15% on domestic flights and 10% on international flights.

• Book at least two months before domestic flights to save 40%. Travellers that booked during this period saved nearly 40% on average compared to those who waited until a month prior to departure.

• Book at least three months before international flights to save 10%. Travellers that booked during this period saved nearly 10% on average compared to those who waited until two months or less prior to departure.

• Depart before 3 p.m. to reduce chance of cancellations. Based on year-to-date flight status data, flights that depart between 3 a.m. and 3 p.m. are the least likely to be cancelled. Flights departing after 3 p.m. have a 15% higher chance of cancellation on average than those that depart earlier in the day.

• Depart on a Friday to save up to 20% on domestic flights. For domestic travel, avoid departing Saturday to Monday, which are the priciest days to start a trip. Departing on a Friday versus the beginning of the week saved travellers 20%. Thursday is a great alternative where travellers saved 10% on average overall. For international travel, Thursday is cheapest, with Sunday and Monday the most expensive respectively. Departing on a Wednesday versus the beginning of the week saved travellers 5%.

Expedia Group VP Julie Kyse acknowledges that cost will always be a factor in consumers’ travel decisions and touts new Expedia features such as price tracking and a Price Match Promise (currently available in the US), as a means of helping instil confidence and clarity for travellers when making their booking decisions, as well as “smart shopping” that makes it easier for clients to compare and choose between offers with increased clarity and structure.

“Even as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite, travel is beginning to normalize, and travellers are taking advantage of flying again,” Kyse concludes. “To ensure this demand continues and to secure repeat customers, improving and developing the traveller experience for a post-pandemic world from the beginning to the end of the holiday process must be a focus.”