Fall is actually one of the best seasons to book flights.

This is the best time of year to buy airline tickets.

The fall “shoulder season” is here. That means lower airfares as the crowds die down after summer before returning for the busy holiday season.

The The season starts in August, as earlier school start dates ease congestion in airport halls. Transportation Security Administration checkpoints saw passenger traffic drop about 5% in August compared to July — a (relatively) refreshing bit of calm after a summer that featured the 10 busiest days ever at U.S. airports.

This trend will continue into the fall months, bringing with it lower fares.

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How expensive are plane tickets these days?

Domestic round-trip airfares in September are trending down about 8% compared to 2023 levels, according to to the booking app Hopper. In October, prices were down about 7% year-over-year.

This is despite airlines’ best efforts to change their routes and flight frequencies in the hope of breaking the downward price trend, a trend that has hurt airline profits all year long amid the too many domestic flights.

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The total number of seats offered by airlines on domestic flights increased by a modest 2.5% from a year ago between September and November, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

It’s up even though some airlines are cutting flights at the end of the year. For example, low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines is mass flight cancellation on low traffic days like Tuesday and Wednesday.

The airline predicts that its move — along with Southwest Airlines, JetBlue and others — will help drive up fares in the late summer and early fall months.

“There’s a higher likelihood… I think we’ll see prices continue to fall at current levels — and stay low, because it’s low season, demand is likely to be low,” argued Hayley Berg, Hopper’s chief economist.

Here’s what you need to know if you’re planning to take advantage of the deals and book a fall vacation.

What is the earliest flight I should book?

Google Flights are seeing domestic fares at their lowest around 38 days before departure. The ideal time to book is between 21 and 52 days before departure.

Translation:If you’re thinking of a trip in mid-October to see the fall foliage, now is a good time to seriously book your tickets.

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If you’re flying internationally, book your ticket as far in advance as possible. The current “sweet spot” is about 101 days before departure. However, you’ll want to look at least 50 days in advance to get the lowest prices.

Fifty days until your trip in late October or early November.

Book your trip on Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday

Airlines often say that midweek days are typically the least crowded times at airports.

I need look no further than the deafening calm I found on a recent Wednesday morning at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU).

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Flying on Friday or Sunday? That’s a whole different story.

If you have to fly on a weekend, Saturday is usually one of the cheapest — and quietest — days of the week.

Take a trip to Europe after the summer

While we’ve been talking mostly about lower demand in the fall months, airlines have taken note of a somewhat paradoxical trend:More and more tourists are choosing to fly to Europe during the “off-peak months”.

“We really see European demand across the board remaining strong through September, October and really November,” Delta Air Lines president Glen Hauenstein tell financial analysts in July. “In fact, September and October are better times to go to Europe than July and August, when it’s very hot and everything is crowded.”

Southern Europe popular in autumn

This is especially true in southern Europe. Cirium data shows, for example, that Delta, American Airlines and United Airlines will offer 55% more seats to Italy this fall than they did in 2019.

Airlines will add 45% more seats to Portugal this autumn than they did five years ago.

How expensive are plane tickets to Europe?

Airfares to many European cities are trending lower. According to FCM Travel and Corporate Traveler — the leading business travel division of Flight Centre Travel Group — data shows that fares to France have fallen nearly 20% in recent months, and fares to the UK have fallen about 18% compared to the same period last year.

Don’t forget your points and miles

The fact that so many airlines have dropped their award charts is, by and large, not a positive development for consumers. Perhaps this is one of the tactics that has has attracted the attention of the US Department of Transportation.

However, dynamic bonus price can work to your advantage when demand is low and prices are low. Point pricing is more closely tied to the algorithmic forces that drive cash prices.

For that reason, definitely consider using points and miles.

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Alternatively, consider using cash to book a flight and miles to upgrade to business class on a long-haul flight. Or, consider using your points to redeem high-value hotel points, such as World of Hyatt. (You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards And Bilt Rewards points to Hyatt on a 1:1 basis.)

Hotel prices remain stable or even higher compared to last year, recently.

Start considering holidays

We would be remiss if we didn’t mention the approaching holiday season, when airport crowds are sure to rise again.

Google Flights suggests booking Thanksgiving flights in early October and Christmas and New Year’s flights by the second half of October.

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