It turns out timing does matter, with a TikTok travel expert revealing that even a few minutes can make the difference between overpaying and bagging a bargain.
Booking your next holiday? Make sure it’s at this exact time to guarantee some savings(Image: Getty Images)
Ever wondered when the best time of day is to book a holiday? A TikTok travel expert has the answer — and his viral video is doing the rounds online.
Rob, known as @robonthebeach online, has built a reputation for clever holiday hacks that save travellers money, but on of his more recent tips is truly ground-breaking. In a clip posted last month, he revealed the best and worst times to book, and the results might just surprise you.
In the video, Rob — who says he “works in travel and looks through holiday data every single day” — explains that timing isn’t just important by the day or week, but down to the hour and even the minute. This is a big win for the night owls!
“According to the data, the most expensive time to book a holiday is between 9 and 10am in the morning,” he said. That’s the dreaded office-hour scroll, and it could be costing travellers dearly.
Rob claims bookings made in that hour were around 30% more expensive than those made at the cheapest time of day. His advice? “No more booking holidays as soon as you get to the office.”
The cheapest time, however, comes much much earlier: “[It’s] early morning, like really early morning, between 4 and 5 am”. He explains how airline pricing systems effectively reset overnight as demand from the previous day drops off, pushing prices closer to their base level before creeping back up as searches increase throughout the day.
And for those searching for the ultimate saving, Rob revealed the exact time where prices are at their lowest: “The single cheapest minute to book a holiday is 2.48am,” he noted. Booking at that precise moment was, on average, 60% cheaper, though he stressed this won’t magically slash the price of each and every trip.
If you’d rather not set a 4am alarm, Rob points out there are other cheaper times, including late evening between 8pm and 10pm, which is still noticeably cheaper than the morning rush.
The video sparked a wave of reactions online, with one user confirming: “On those insomnia nights, can confirm the early hours are cheap,” while a second joked: “Now everyone is going to book at this time and it won’t be cheap anymore.”
Others offered additional tips, including: “Remember to clear your cache,” as another summed it up with “cheap as chips, fair play”.
Brits are certainly keen holiday bookers. Research from YouGov shows that around 35% of UK travellers book their holidays one to three months in advance, while a further 23% book four to six months ahead.
While data from IPA suggests the average UK adult books a holiday roughly 17 weeks before travelling, with online bookings now dominating. ABTA claims that around 78% of adults take at least one holiday each year.