Looking for cheaper international flights from Australia? You’re in the right place.

Did you know most Aussie travellers overpay just because they don’t know when to book their flights? It’s true. You can save $200 to $600 with a few tips.

In this guide, we’ll cover when you should book your tickets for the best prices, and how some tools will help you find exclusive deals. You’ll also learn a few flight-booking tricks that’ll save you more money than the traditional process.

If you’re flying overseas soon, this is the place to start. Keep reading.

Cheapest Time to Book Flights: Australia Edition

Timing is everything with flights since ticket pricing changes depending on how early or late you book. We’ve noticed that domestic flights within Australia are usually cheapest around 6 to 8 weeks before you travel. For international trips, you want to book at least 8 to 12 weeks out.

What’s interesting is that booking too early can cost you more. It happens because airlines haven’t started their sales yet. But Tuesday afternoons are when we’ve found the best deals, since airlines typically update their pricing systems around that time.

Get the hang of these patterns for domestic flights and international travel from Australia, and you’ll save big (who doesn’t want to beat airline pricing algorithms?).

We’ll break down the timing and strategy for you now.

Optimal Domestic Travel Booking Windows

It’s still strange how most people either book flights too early or wait too long. Instead, you can do better and target specific windows to secure the best prices before costs skyrocket.

Now, we understand from our experience that different travel scenarios require various approaches. But the fundamentals remain consistent across all domestic flight bookings. Here are four timing-related tips for you to save the most money:

1. Ideal Window: You should book your flight 1 to 3 months in advance for the best balance of price and availability. This way, you’ll get early-bird pricing during this timeframe without paying premium rates.
2. Peak Periods (Holidays/Events): If your date is around holiday seasons when the demand is at its highest, you must aim to book your flight 4 to 6 months in advance. It’s because school holidays and major events drive prices up quickly. So you need that extra buffer to reduce your pricing.
3. Cheapest Days to Fly: Business travellers dominate Monday and Friday routes, which pushes up prices on those days. So, you’ll find that midweek flights (Tuesday, Wednesday) consistently offer lower pricing than weekends.
4. Cheapest Times to Fly: In the airline industry, inconvenient times equal better prices. That’s why the first flight of the morning or late-night “red-eye” services often offer lower fares. Airlines like to reward passengers who choose less popular departure times.

Strategic International Departure Timing

For international flights, you’ve got to think like a pro with a longer-term strategy. We’re talking half a year to a full year ahead. And it’s still those same patterns as domestic flights, just stretched over a longer timeline.

But it truly comes down to where everyone else wants to go and when they’re planning to travel. So let’s walk you through a destination-based booking plan below.

1. Asia and New Zealand: For competitive fares, book your flight 3 to 5 months before the departure date. You don’t have to plan quite as far ahead here since these shorter routes have more frequent sales and promotions. 
2. USA and Europe: Get your booking 5 to 8 months out for travelling during peak season in the northern hemisphere. That’s because summer European holidays require the longest planning. Everyone and their nan wants those sunny July weeks.
3. Global Rule: If you are not planning to travel during holiday seasons, make a habit of booking your flight at least 60 days before your international departure date. Airlines know last-minute bookers pay premium rates, and they adjust pricing accordingly. We call it the 60-day rule.

Using Flight Comparison Tools Effectively

Most people just punch in their dates on flight comparison sites and call it a day. But honestly, that’s like using a Hummer to drive to the mailbox. You can save hundreds of dollars easily with a few tweaks.

Besides, if you’re a frequent flyer, it’s practically a sin not to master these money-saving features that most travellers completely ignore. Because once you start using these tools the way you should’ve been using them, you’ll wonder how you ever booked flights without them.

Here’s how to squeeze every dollar of savings from these tools.

Flight Hacks: Activate “Flexible Date” Searches

Those “whole month” or “flexible date” search functions in flight comparison tools? You can get considerably different pricing with their help. You only need to change a departure or return date by one or two days.

Take this quick example. As we all know, airlines adjust their rates constantly based on demand patterns, so a Tuesday flight might cost $400 less than the same route on Thursday.

These comparison tools are perfect for finding those price gaps that manual searching would never reveal.

Booking Sites: Master Price Alerts and Filters

Instead of checking prices obsessively on booking sites, you can let the technology handle it and notify you when rates drop for your specific route. That’s the clever way to track without the stress. These active price alerts are like having a personal assistant watching fares for you.

Also, don’t ignore filters to weed out long connecting flights. These filters are brilliant for excluding those 18-hour layovers or dodgy booking agents that look cheap but create visa and accommodation problems later.

Please, trust us when we say that filtering out connections longer than 4 hours will save both your time and sanity.

Common Aussie Last-Minute Booking Mistakes

In this section, we’ll talk about the most frequent and costly errors travellers make. You have to avoid these mistakes to find a good deal in the first place.

But before we dig into all the problems, let’s debunk a persistent myth. Many people still believe last-minute deals are reliable, especially for planned trips. The thing is, when you have algorithmic pricing everywhere, it’s a gamble to wait that rarely pays off.

What happens behind the scenes is that airlines use intelligent systems to increase prices as departure dates approach, particularly for popular routes from Australia. Even in their most profitable days, they’re not suddenly dropping prices out of the goodness of their hearts.

Here are some costly errors you must sidestep:

• Ignoring a Final Check: You should never assume that a comparison site gives you the complete picture. Always be sure to perform a quick check on the airline’s official website before booking. Sometimes, it’s cheaper or includes more benefits like free seat selection or priority boarding that third-party sites don’t mention.
• Forgetting Baggage and Seat Fees: Beware of budget airline prices, because looks can be deceiving. That $299 “cheap flight” to Europe can quickly become $450 after adding checked bags and decent seat selection. These extra expenses can add 30-50% to your total cost.
• Dismissing Shoulder Seasons: Shoulder seasons (the time between peak and off-peak seasons), like spring and autumn in Europe, offer fantastic weather with extremely low flight and accommodation costs. You’ll save money and avoid the crowds.

Advanced International Airfare Hacks

It’s time for some advanced methods to ensure maximum savings for you. We’ll share some expert-level tactics here that will find you a different tier of pricing on long-haul international flights. Yeah, they do require more planning and attention from you, but the savings can be incredible.

Now tell us, have you ever heard of the VPN method for booking flights cheaper? If not, this is going to blow your mind.

The Point-of-Sale VPN Method for Cheap Flights

Let’s start with a booking lifehack. Airlines show different fares based on the country you appear to be booking from. This policy has a name: ‘point-of-sale’ pricing (or POS pricing), and it’s perfectly legal for you to explore.

And if you decide to be clever about this approach and use a VPN to change your digital location, you’ll access lower regional fares that aren’t available to Australian IP addresses.

That’s literally it. You’re just appearing to book from somewhere else, and it reduces your flight pricing (all within the law!).

A Practical Look at the Tactic for Best Prices

Here’s a simplified example: check the price of a Sydney to Bangkok flight on the airline’s Australian site. Then use a VPN to appear as if you’re in Thailand and check the same flight again.

You might find it costs way less when booked from the destination country’s perspective. Only remember to always check the airline’s terms and factor in currency conversion rates, as these can affect your actual savings.

The “Self-Connect” Itinerary Strategy

There’s another approach that involves building your own long-haul itinerary. Instead of one ticket from Australia to Europe or the USA, it can be cheaper for you to split the journey. Say, buy one ticket to a major Asian travel hub like Singapore or Bangkok, then purchase a separate onward ticket from there.

Managing a Multi-Ticket Journey

Try to leave a very long layover (8 hours or overnight) between flights to manage potential delays. You’ll also need to collect and re-check baggage, plus confirm visa requirements for your transit hub.

Pro-Tip: Our findings show that Singapore and Dubai work best for this strategy. Keep it in mind for your next long trip.

Your Flight Booking Game Plan

You have to be strategic about ensuring the best flight prices available. It’s important for you to know the correct timing to get the lowest price, effective booking tool usage, and how to avoid costly mistakes that usually catch people off guard.

In this guide, we’ve covered the optimal booking windows for domestic and international flights and shown you how to maximise flight comparison tools with flexible dates and price alerts. We also shared some advanced tactics with you to get the best pricing for your next flight.

The savings you’ll generate using these approaches can go straight back into making your actual trip even better. And travel insurance from Monkey House Music ensures your great deals stay great, irrespective of unexpected situations.

Contact us today to learn more about our services.