Measured answer page · recomputed hourly · 2026-08-29

When are flights cheapest? Measured, not folklore.

Everyone repeats the Tuesday myth. FareFloor answers from its own scan corpus instead: for each origin below, the departure months and weekdays currently pricing furthest below usual — with the sample size and observation window printed next to every claim, because a number without its method is just another myth.

Cheapest observed departure timing, per origin — median % below usual (sample)
Origin	Cheapest month observed	Cheapest weekday	Corpus
Singapore SIN	September — median 12% below usual (27 fares)	Wednesday — median 12% below (10)	49 fares · 1d window
Bangkok BKK	October — median 18% below usual (16 fares)	Thursday — median 19% below (8)	43 fares · 1d window
Seoul ICN	September — median 14% below usual (24 fares)	Wednesday — median 17% below (8)	48 fares · 1d window
Tokyo NRT	September — median 20% below usual (18 fares)	Friday — median 23% below (12)	44 fares · 1d window

Read this as “of the upcoming departures our scans have observed, which timing is running cheapest right now” — a live measurement that re-computes hourly, not a law of nature. Months and weekdays with fewer than 8 observations are dropped rather than reported.

The questions people actually ask

What is the cheapest day to book a flight?: Honest answer: the famous "book on Tuesday" rule is folklore from a 2000s-era fare-filing rhythm that airlines no longer follow. What FareFloor can measure today is DEPARTURE pricing: across 184 fare observations from 4 origins (as of 2026-08-29), the tables on this page show which departure months and weekdays are running below their usual price, per origin, with sample sizes. Booking-day effects need repeated observations of the same route over time — our corpus is accumulating exactly that, and we will publish the measured booking-curve answer here once the sample is fair, not before.
When are flights cheapest to fly, in general?: The pattern our measurements keep confirming: fares drop when a destination is out of its postcard season — shoulder weeks and off-season months — and the drop is route-specific, not calendar-universal. That is why this page answers per origin from live data instead of one myth for everyone. For the live list from your city, open your board: every fare is shown against what that trip usually costs. Prices are recent observations refreshed several times daily, not live quotes; every fare links to a live availability check.
Do flights get cheaper closer to the departure date?: Sometimes — unsold seats on off-peak routes do drop late, and those late drops show up on FareFloor boards as deep below-usual fares departing soon (our last-minute page collects them: farefloor.com/last-minute-flight-deals). But it is a gamble on exactly the routes where demand is strong. The measurable, non-gambling version: watch the board, and take the fare when it is well below its usual price — the "usually" number is the tell, not the calendar.

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● Sweeping every destination…

When are flights cheapest? Measured, not folklore.

Cheapest observed departure timing, per origin — median % below usual (sample)

Origin

Cheapest month observed

Cheapest weekday

Corpus

Singapore SIN

September — median 12% below usual (27 fares)

Wednesday — median 12% below (10)

49 fares · 1d window

Bangkok BKK

October — median 18% below usual (16 fares)

Thursday — median 19% below (8)

43 fares · 1d window

Seoul ICN

September — median 14% below usual (24 fares)

Wednesday — median 17% below (8)

48 fares · 1d window

Tokyo NRT

September — median 20% below usual (18 fares)

Friday — median 23% below (12)

44 fares · 1d window

The questions people actually ask

What is the cheapest day to book a flight?

Honest answer: the famous "book on Tuesday" rule is folklore from a 2000s-era fare-filing rhythm that airlines no longer follow. What FareFloor can measure today is DEPARTURE pricing: across 184 fare observations from 4 origins (as of 2026-08-29), the tables on this page show which departure months and weekdays are running below their usual price, per origin, with sample sizes. Booking-day effects need repeated observations of the same route over time — our corpus is accumulating exactly that, and we will publish the measured booking-curve answer here once the sample is fair, not before.

When are flights cheapest to fly, in general?

The pattern our measurements keep confirming: fares drop when a destination is out of its postcard season — shoulder weeks and off-season months — and the drop is route-specific, not calendar-universal. That is why this page answers per origin from live data instead of one myth for everyone. For the live list from your city, open your board: every fare is shown against what that trip usually costs. Prices are recent observations refreshed several times daily, not live quotes; every fare links to a live availability check.

Do flights get cheaper closer to the departure date?

Sometimes — unsold seats on off-peak routes do drop late, and those late drops show up on FareFloor boards as deep below-usual fares departing soon (our last-minute page collects them: farefloor.com/last-minute-flight-deals). But it is a gamble on exactly the routes where demand is strong. The measurable, non-gambling version: watch the board, and take the fare when it is well below its usual price — the "usually" number is the tell, not the calendar.