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A travel expert claims he has saved money by looking for flights at a specific time, and early risers could bag a bargain, but there are also other ways to cut the cost of your flight

A travel expert has claimed that the time you book a flight can be just as important as the day you choose to travel, and that setting your alarm at a very specific time could help you land the best deals.

Jamie Fraser, owner of Wild Packs, claims that the cheapest time to book flights is exactly 2:48am in what could be good news for night owls and insomniacs. He also claims that evening searches between 8pm and 2pm can also be around 5% cheaper than searching during peak morning hours.

Airlines will often raise prices when they see heavy demand for a destination, so if lots of other people are up at the same time looking for the same route and dates, this could potentially put prices up. Jamie says: “Most people search for flights first thing in the morning while they’re having coffee, but that’s exactly when everyone else is doing the same thing.

“When airline systems see that spike in demand, prices can rise quickly. It’s one of the easiest ways travellers overpay. The cheapest time to book is usually in the early hours of the morning, around 2:48 am, when far fewer people are searching, and airline pricing systems have reset overnight.”

He added: “If you’re not willing to set a 2 am alarm, the next best option is late evening. Booking between 8 pm and 10 pm can still save around 5% compared to that busy morning window.”

So does this hack work? In the early years of internet travel booking, airlines and other sites would update their fares manually overnight. This meant that savvy travellers could sometimes pick up middle of the night bargains. However, nowadays, it’s more complex because systems have evolved, so you may still need a bit of luck on your side.

You could also potentially save money by using Jamie’s other suggested hack, which is to set up price alerts rather than checking fares repeatedly. Jamie also reiterated the often given advice that travellers should be flexible with travel plans, looking out for different airlines, dates, or nearby airports.

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If you use sites such as Skyscanner, you can often tick a ‘nearby airports’ box, as an airport a short drive away could end up being cheaper. If you’re flexible on destination, for example you simply want to go somewhere sunny with a beach, then choosing ‘everywhere’ as a destination will show you the cheapest options for your dates.

It’s also worth signing up for emails from specific airlines and looking out for deals such as flash sales or kids fly for free offers, which often have limited availability and need to be snapped up quickly.

Have a story you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says children, the elderly at particular risk after damage to Iranian petroleum facilities.

The head of the World Health Organization has warned that recent Israeli attacks on oil facilities in Iran could have negative effects on public health, with Iranian children and the elderly among the most vulnerable.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement on Monday that damage to Iranian petroleum facilities “risks contaminating food, water and air”.

Those hazards “can have severe health impacts especially on children, older people, and people with pre existing medical conditions”, Tedros warned in a post on X. “Rain laden with oil has been reported falling in parts of the country.”

The Iranian authorities said oil facilities in the capital, Tehran, and the nearby province of Alborz were targeted on Saturday in the United States-Israeli war against the country, the Fars news agency reported.

Israel said it struck “a number of fuel storage facilities in Tehran” that were used “to operate military infrastructure”.

The strikes sent massive flames and clouds of thick, black smoke into the sky above Tehran, with Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi reporting that black raindrops fell early on Sunday morning.

The attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure came as the US and Israeli governments had vowed to continue to bombard the country despite mounting international concern over the widening conflict.

Iran has retaliated to the US-Israeli strikes by launching missiles and drones at targets across the Middle East, including energy infrastructure in nearby Arab Gulf states.

Human rights groups have condemned both Iran and the US and Israel for targeting civilian infrastructure.

Agnes Callamard, the head of Amnesty International, said on Monday that “Israel should have taken all feasible precautions to avoid or minimize the risks to civilians when targeting oil refineries” in Iran.

“The incidental harm to civilians, including the release of toxic substance, appears to indicate that too little precautions were taken and that the incidental harm to civilians is disproportionate,” she wrote on X.

“The scenes of catastrophe described by Iranians after Tehran’s oil depots were bombed are yet another demonstration that ultimately, whatever they may say, the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran are harming first and foremost civilians, including children.”