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There's no silver bullet for finding the best deals, but vigilance and flexibility are key.
Many or all of the products on this page are from partners who compensate us when you click to or take an action on their website, but this does not influence our evaluations or ratings. Our opinions are our own.
Myth buster: While the concept of an optimal booking day is appealing, the reality is more complex. There's no specific day that guarantees the lowest price or the best day to book flights on United Airlines because the prices are floating.However, if you want to travel with United Airlines without breaking the bank, you must know when are united flights the cheapest. Doing so can save a lot of money and make travel more convenient.
When are United flights cheapest?The cheapest days to fly United are usually Tuesday and Wednesday. Flying early in the morning and booking during off-peak times can also save you money.
What is the best day to book a flight on United Airlines?According to experts, Tuesday is the best day to book United flights. This day is considered the cheapest on all airlines, including United Airlines. On this day, airlines release their weekly sales, and you can take advantage of these sales to get cheap flights. Therefore, book your flight on Tuesday if you plan to travel with United Airlines.
You can find deals any day of the week since flight prices fluctuate with demand. That said, data provided to Online Booking Network by Expedia indicates that — if you have flexibility on when to book — Sundays are generally best.
Domestic travelers can save 6% while international travelers can save 17% compared to booking on a Monday or Friday, according to Expedia's 2025 Air Travel Hacks Report.
Airlines might offer sales, increase the number of seats on a route or even lower prices to match a competitor, so there’s no actual pattern in what day of the week has the best deals.
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Saturday averages the overall cheapest flights by pretty much every metric.
Hopper — a travel booking app — collected flight booking data from October 2023 through April 1, 2024 for May 2024 departures showing average airfare, broken down by day of week. Indeed, Saturdays are cheapest.
Data from Hopper based on searches made for any May travel dates in the 6 months ending April 1, 2024.
According to Expedia's 2025 Air Travel Hacks Report, domestic flights on Saturday average about 17% less than Sunday flights.
SWhat is the United Airlines Low-Fare Calendar 2025?With United Airlines 'low-fare calendar, 2025' you can find cheap United flights quickly. Use this calendar to search for flights for an entire month, showing you the most affordable flights available. To use the low-fare calendar, go to the United Airlines website, select the "Book Travel" option, and click "Flexible Dates." Then, choose the month you want to travel and click on "Search." The low-fare calendar of United Airlines will show you the cheapest flights available for that month. You can always contact our customer support at ( toll free ) for our cheapest bookings and any kind of name and date changes in your ticket.
Time also plays a crucial role in the booking of flights. Let's delve deeper into the secrets of the best time to buy United Airlines tickets. Strategic booking days can significantly impact on the price of your United Airlines ticket.
Meanwhile, international flyers would also be wise to leave on Wednesdays or Saturdays, usually the cheapest days to depart for an international trip. That said, there isn’t a huge difference in price across the days of the week for most international routes.
Hopper estimates that leaving on a Wednesday for Europe will only save you about 10% compared to the most expensive day (Friday).
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Generally, weekdays including United travel Tuesdays and Wednesdays are your champions for finding cheap United Airlines flights for departure and arrival. Due to an increase in business travel during weekends, flight prices tend to rise. Opting for Tuesday and Wednesday flights instead of Fridays can lead to significant changes.
To get the best deal, book as early as possible. Because many airlines have flexible cancellation policies, it doesn’t hurt to lock in a decent rate ahead of time and rebook if the flight price drops in the months after. According to Google Flights’ 2023 insights, the best time to book a mid-December holiday flight is 71 days before departure.
In many cases, the best day to fly will be further out from the holiday. If the holiday falls on a Monday, flying the Tuesday before will likely be cheaper than flying the Friday before. You can also look at flying on the holiday itself. For example, flying on Christmas Day or Thanksgiving Day is usually much more affordable than flying on the days before or after.
Here are our recommendations for when to fly around some of the major holidays based on recent checkpoint data from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA):
The age-old question - should you book well in advance or wait for a last-minute deal? To get cheap United flights, one must book 2 to 3 months before departure (according to United Airlines' historical data). Airlines usually offer their cheapest fares during a particular period to sell more seats. However, last-minute United Airlines deals might also be appealing. Airlines might reduce prices before departure to fill up empty seats. This approach requires some flexibility and a bit of risk. However, the preferred flight may be unavailable at the last minute, and you could lose out on the best deals. You must also know about the refund policy before booking the tickets with United Airlines.
Book domestic flights one to three months in advance to avoid any price surges in the weeks leading up to the departure date. In fact, domestic flights booked one to three months in advance average 25% less than last-minute deals, according to Expedia. Last-minute flight deals aren’t super common and you risk not getting a seat at all because your desired flight might ultimately sell out.
If you’re flying internationally, you’ll want to look two to eight months out.
It doesn’t hurt to look at flight prices before the ideal booking window. Google Flights, for example, sometimes shows in the search results when it expects prices to be the lowest based on historical data for your route.
Let a computer program do the work for you. Instead of checking flight prices every day, set a price alert on the travel search engine of your choice — whether it’s Google Flights, Hopper, Skyscanner or Kayak.They’ll send you an email when they see the price drop.
Most airlines have adopted more flexible change and cancellation policies, which make it easier to rebook your flight and save money.
First, you’ll have to make sure that the original flight you booked will not have change or cancellation fees. For most airlines, that applies to most main cabin and premium class tickets on domestic flights and some short-haul international flights. You usually cannot change or cancel basic economy tickets for free.
If you can cancel or change without fees, set a price alert. When the price drops, you can cancel your flight and rebook (on the same airline or a different one) to get the cheaper price. Be aware that you might only get a travel voucher or credit if you cancel, so you should only use the option if you are fairly confident you will fly with the original airline again within one year.
The golden rule of cheap travel remains: Be flexible. Use Google Flights to see if there are cheaper places to go by leaving the destination field blank when you search. Check nearby airports if you’re set on a destination and use the calendar views to find lower prices on different dates. Maybe embrace a long layover as a chance to see another city on your trip.