When Is the Best Time to Book a Holiday?

It's one of the questions we're asked most often.

When should I actually book my holiday?

Book too early and you might wonder whether a better deal will appear later. Leave it too late and the hotel, cabin or flight you wanted might have disappeared altogether.

Then there are January sales, early-booking offers, last-minute deals and endless claims about the "cheapest day" to book.

The reality is much simpler.

There isn't one perfect time to book every holiday

The best time depends on where you're going, when you're travelling, how flexible you can be and how particular you are about getting exactly what you want.

Here's how we'd approach it.

Should you book your holiday early?

If you already know where and when you want to travel, booking early can make a lot of sense.

The biggest advantage isn't necessarily price.

It's choice.

When holidays first become available, you'll generally have a wider selection of flights, room types, resorts and departure dates to consider.

That can be particularly important if you're travelling during a busy period or have specific requirements.

We'd particularly consider booking early if:

• You're travelling during school holidays
• You need specific travel dates
• You want a particular hotel or resort
• You need a specific room type
• You're travelling as a larger family or group
• You're planning a honeymoon or special occasion
• You want a particular cruise ship, itinerary or cabin
• You're travelling to a destination with limited availability

If you know exactly what you want, waiting purely in the hope of saving money can sometimes mean losing the holiday you actually wanted.

What about school holidays?

If you're restricted to school holiday dates, we'd generally favour planning ahead. Summer holidays, Easter, Christmas and half-term periods naturally concentrate demand into a relatively small number of dates.

And it's not simply the hotel you need to consider.

Convenient flights from your preferred airport can become limited, family rooms may sell out and larger accommodation options can disappear.

If you need two adults, two children, a family room, a particular board basis and flights from a particular airport on a particular Saturday, you're considerably less flexible than a couple who can travel on any date during the month.

The less flexible you are, the stronger the argument for booking ahead.

When should you book a summer holiday?

If you're dreaming about next summer while it's still cold outside, you aren't necessarily getting ahead of yourself.

Many summer holidays are released well in advance.

Booking earlier can give you a broader choice, particularly for popular resorts, family accommodation and peak travel dates.

It can also give you longer to spread the cost where your booking arrangements allow payments to be made towards the outstanding balance.

But that doesn't mean everyone needs to book their summer holiday a year ahead.

If you're flexible about destination, hotel and dates, you have much more freedom to see what becomes available later.

When should you book a winter-sun holiday?

Winter sun is slightly different because the destination matters enormously. A week in the Canary Islands in November is a very different proposition from travelling to the Caribbean over Christmas and New Year.

Peak festive dates can command strong demand, particularly for desirable hotels and flights.

If you're simply looking for sunshine at some point between November and March and you're flexible about where you go, you may have considerably more room to wait and compare options.

The question shouldn't simply be "When should I book winter sun?"

It should be:

"How particular am I about where and when I go?"

What about cruises?

Cruising is one area where booking early can have some significant advantages.

A cruise ship might have thousands of cabins, but there may only be a relatively small number of the exact cabin type and location you want.

Popular itineraries, suites, family cabins and particularly desirable balcony cabins can be snapped up well ahead of departure.

Cruise lines can also release itineraries considerably in advance, giving people an opportunity to plan major trips early.

That doesn't mean late cruise deals never exist. They certainly can.

But if you've set your heart on a particular ship, date, itinerary and cabin, we'd be wary of waiting purely for the possibility of a lower fare.

Is last-minute cheaper?

Sometimes. But not always.

This is probably the biggest misconception around holiday booking.

Unsold rooms, airline seats or cruise cabins can sometimes lead to attractive late availability.

But "last minute" isn't a guarantee of a bargain.

As availability reduces, prices can just as easily rise. And even where the headline holiday price falls, the flights or room types you actually want may no longer be available.

Last-minute booking works best when you're genuinely flexible

If you can say:

Quote"We want seven nights somewhere warm next month, we're flexible on the destination and can fly from Glasgow or Edinburgh."

then last-minute availability could be worth exploring.

If your requirement is:

Quote"We need this exact week, flying from Glasgow, adults-only, five-star, all-inclusive, sea view and we'd like this particular hotel."

waiting until the last minute is a much bigger gamble.

Flexibility is what makes last-minute booking work.

Are January sales the best time to book?

January is certainly an important period for the travel industry.

Many people start thinking about their next holiday after Christmas, and travel companies often promote offers and incentives during this period.

There can absolutely be good opportunities.

But we wouldn't recommend waiting for January purely because you've heard that's when holidays are cheapest.

A promotion isn't automatically good value just because it has the word sale attached to it.

Look at the actual holiday, what is included and whether the price works for you.

If the right holiday is available at a price you're comfortable with before January, waiting for an unknown future promotion carries its own risk.

Is there really a cheapest day of the week to book?

You've probably seen headlines suggesting Tuesday at a particular time is the secret to finding cheap holidays or flights.

We wouldn't plan a holiday around that.

Travel prices are dynamic and can change according to demand, availability, supplier pricing and numerous other factors.

There isn't a universally reliable day of the week when every holiday suddenly becomes cheaper.

We'd spend more time finding the right trip and comparing the overall value than trying to beat an algorithm by booking at 3pm on a Tuesday.

Don't forget the deposit

Booking early doesn't necessarily mean paying for your entire holiday immediately. Depending on the supplier and type of booking, you may be able to secure your trip with a deposit and pay the remaining balance later.

Your Port & Place booking portal also allows you to make payments towards your booking.

That can make planning ahead particularly useful if you'd prefer to spread the cost over time rather than finding the entire balance close to departure.

The deposit, balance date and payment terms vary between bookings, so we'll make these clear before you confirm.

What if the price drops after you've booked?

This is worth understanding before you commit.

Travel pricing can change.

The fact that a holiday becomes cheaper after you've booked doesn't normally mean your confirmed booking automatically reduces in price, just as a supplier wouldn't normally increase your confirmed price simply because the same room became more expensive afterwards.

Cancellation and amendment terms also vary considerably.

That's why we'd never encourage you to book something you're unhappy with today purely because you're worried about what its price might do tomorrow.

You should be comfortable with the holiday, price and booking terms when you decide to confirm it.

Price isn't the only thing worth watching

A £100 saving can quickly become irrelevant if the cheaper option gives you inconvenient flights, doesn't include luggage or puts you in a room you wouldn't have chosen.

When comparing holiday prices, look at the complete picture:

• Flight times
• Departure airport
• Checked luggage
• Transfers
• Room or cabin type
• Board basis
• Resort location
• What's included
• Payment terms
• Cancellation and amendment conditions

That's why we prefer talking about value, rather than simply finding the lowest headline price.

So, when is the best time to book?

Our rule of thumb is surprisingly straightforward.

Book earlier when you're particular

If the dates, destination, hotel, ship, cabin or flight really matter to you, planning ahead usually gives you the greatest choice.

Consider waiting when you're flexible

If you're open-minded about dates, destinations and accommodation, you may be in a stronger position to take advantage of later availability.

Don't wait for a mythical perfect price

Nobody can reliably tell you today that your holiday will definitely cost less three months from now.

If you've found the right trip, you're happy with the price and the booking terms work for you, sometimes the best time to book is simply when you're ready.

Tell us what you're planning

You don't need to work out the perfect booking window yourself.

Tell us where you're thinking of going, roughly when you'd like to travel and what's important to you.

If we think you should be looking now because availability matters, we'll tell you.

If you've got plenty of flexibility, we'll take that into account too.

The aim isn't simply to book as early or as late as possible.

It's to find the right trip, at the right time, for you.

TRAVEL, PERSONALLY PLANNED.