How far in advance to book a flight? And when is the cheapest time to fly?

Israelis’ favorite destinations for the Tishrei holidays: New York, London and Athens and for the Hanukkah holiday: London, Bangkok and Dubai. The most trendy destinations: Sri Lanka, Montenegro, Ibiza, Osaka and Paphos. Eliran Levy, from Google’s spokesperson department in Israel: “The search for the cheapest vacation in 2023 leads the Israeli tourist to look for more low-cost companies, with maximum flexibility in choosing the destination.”

(5.9.2023) Against the background of the high demand in Israel for vacations and flights, which reached an all-time high in the summer of 2023, Google is publishing today the latest search trends that reveal the changes in the tourism habits of Israelis in light of the economic situation in Israel and around the world. The company also publishes an analysis of flight prices from Israel over the past five years that debunks quite a few myths about buying cheap plane tickets.

Google data shows that in the first half of the year there was an increase in searches for flights (12%+), cruises (40%+) and hotels (11%+) in Israel. This year an all-time record was recorded in the search for discounted vacations, with an increase of thousands of percent in the search for ‘cheap destinations in Europe’, a jump of 400% in ‘cheap flights in Passover’ and 300% in ‘cheap flights in July’.

This year there was also a jump of thousands of percent in the search for ‘low cost airlines’ along with an increase in the search for flights without a specific destination. With a global increase of about 400% in the search for ‘Google Flights to anywhere’ (‘Google Flights to anywhere’) in the first half of 2023 compared to 2022, alongside a 200% increase in ‘Business flights to anywhere’ and a 150% increase in ‘Cheap flights now everywhere’.

In the first half of 2023, there were also changes in the date of vacation planning, indicating two types of Israeli tourists – the “planners” and the “procrastinators”. This year, Israelis searched for flights 56 days before departure, on average, compared to 46 days in advance in 2022. Alongside this, there was a 2-fold jump in the search for “last minute flights” compared to the corresponding period last year.

“The changes in the Israeli tourist’s search habits reveal the flexibility, creativity and breaking of behavior patterns that help him travel the world for less money, apparently in light of the economic situation in Israel and the world.” A message Eliran Levy from Google’s spokesperson department in Israel. “This year, we see that the search for the cheapest vacation leads the Israeli tourist to look for more low-cost companies, with maximum flexibility in choosing the destination, which is reflected in the change in the timing of the purchase of tickets to much earlier or later than before.”

* Google Flights data in Israel (actual search data from 2021-2022, data on when is cheapest in advance from the last five years)

On the way to vacation save money with Google Flights

Levy also dispels quite a few myths on the way to purchasing the most profitable flight ticket: “An analysis of the prices of flights from Israel in the last five years brings up insights that are worth a lot of money to the Israeli tourist. A direct flight will not always be more expensive than a flight with a connection, buying a flight ticket in the 90th minute will usually not pay off and there is no day when it is cheaper to fly or buy a flight ticket in bulk.’

The myth: “A flight with a connection will always cost less”

An analysis from Google Flights of the prices of flights from Israel in the last five years shows that sometimes direct flights are not necessarily more expensive than flights with a connection to the same destination. On routes where both options exist, only in 33% of the cases on average the direct flight will cost you more than connecting flights on the same route. And yet, in many cases, choosing a non-direct flight may be less convenient but can save considerable amounts of money. Direct flights from Bulgaria are 18% more expensive on average than non-direct flights.

The myth: “It is cheapest to buy a plane ticket in the 90th minute”

In general, in the last five years, the flights from Israel were offered at the lowest price 82 days before departure. But when you look at vacations during special periods, the data is surprising: to enjoy the cheapest price for flights during the months of July-August, it would be advisable to purchase the tickets about six months in advance (179 days) before departure, while flights for the Tishri holidays should be purchased 7.5 months (225 days) before The flight and flights for Hanukkah or visiting the Christmas markets were recommended to be purchased about three months (94 days) in advance.

The myth: “It’s cheapest to fly in the middle of the week and to charter on Tuesdays”

Contrary to the prevailing myth, the Google Flights analysis shows that there is no day of the week when it is cheaper to fly from Israel, the same goes for the belief that on Tuesdays the airlines offer cheaper tickets, since the price hardly changes between the days of the week. This is in contrast to the USA, where Google Flights data shows that it is 12% cheaper to fly in the middle of the week (Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays).

Photos: Shutterstock

Where have the Israelis flown since the beginning of the year and where will they continue to fly?

According to Travel Insights with Google data, the most dressed-up destinations since the beginning of the year were London, followed immediately by Istanbul and Larnaca. Athens is in fourth place, followed by Paris. At the top of the list of destinations whose searches have grown the most since the beginning of the year is Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, followed by Tivat (Montenegro), Ibiza, Osaka and Paphos.

The hottest summer vacation destinations in 2023 were New York, London, Athens, Larnaca, Paphos, Budapest, Amsterdam, Rome, Paris and Milan. In 2022, Israelis searched for flight tickets for their summer vacation 56 days in advance on average with an average vacation duration of 11 days.

The list of hot destinations for Tishri holidays is similar to that of the summer holidays, with New York, London and Athens at the top of the list, Bangkok replacing Larnaca in fourth place, Paris in fifth place, Tokyo in sixth place, then Rome, Milan, Amsterdam and Paphos. Israelis searched for the flights for the Tishri holidays in 2022 59 days in advance on average for an average stay of about 10 days.

At the top of the list of hot destinations for the Hanukkah holiday and the Christmas markets (7-25.12.23) can be found London, Bangkok and Dubai. They are followed by New York, Paris, Prague, Budapest, Vienna, Phuket and Berlin. Israelis searched for the flights for the Hanukkah holiday 67 days in advance on average for an average stay of 8 days.

Four winning tips for saving with Google Flights

In any flight search on Google Flights, you can enter the price graph to find the cheapest flight near the defined date range. If the system notices a significant change in dates, you will immediately receive an alert on how changing the flight dates can save you from hundreds to thousands of shekels. In the example in the picture you can see a recommendation to advance the flight a day and bring about a significant saving of NIS 1,300 per ticket.

We recently added upgraded insights to Google Flights that will help you decide when it is most profitable to purchase a plane ticket. When searching for flights for which we have enough reliable information, you will see the date on which it was most profitable to purchase a ticket for the dates and destination you chose. For example, sometimes an explanation will appear that the best time of the year to buy the plane ticket to Paris is two months before the flight or to contrast that the prices in the past were cheapest a few days before the flight.

The upgraded insights are added to the typical price axis. After you have chosen the flight you are interested in, you will be able to see a price chart with three colors: red, yellow and green which will tell you whether the price is high, low or average compared to the last year. The axis reflects prices from the last 12 months for a flight in the same season, same route, number of stops, class and airline.

Activate price tracking in Google Flights for your destination and travel dates, and Google Flights will send you an email if the prices change significantly. If you are more flexible about the time of travel, you can activate tracking for ‘all dates’ to be notified of price drops for flights departing in the next 3 to 6 months to the specific destination.