​ For Indian travelers: here’s the best time to book a flight

Don’t think this is one of those everyday articles you can ignore as click bait. This is actually authentic.

Traveling can be expensive, but knowing the secrets of the trade can make all of the difference.

As the festive season in India approaches with Durga Puja, Diwali and Christmas on the queue, you have already started looking for discounts, coupons and flash sales on airline tickets. If you are a backpacker or student, it’s not wise to splurge all your savings on flight tickets and feel bank robbed when traveling.

Earlier we have read a lot of similar stories saying Tuesday is the cheapest or the weekends are cheap. Those were super effective for international travel and mostly in Europe and the USA. However, that didn’t work for India. When we tried booking tickets on metro route midweek, we found the tickets to be super expensive.

So to make things easier for you, Business Insider consulted with Skyscanner, the meta-search engine of travel. And what we found will greatly help you plan your travel.

For domestic travelers flying in the metro routes or at least originating from a metro, the earlier you book a ticket, the cheaper you get. There is no magic of any particular day of the week in India. For domestic travelers, the biggest saving of 48% can be made gained if you book a flight 51 weeks in advance.

Well, that might sound absurd but to be frank, if you are willing to save money, you need to plan your travel in advance. And those big trips you make with your friends can easily be made a year in advance to save on flights. As per the new rule, all tickets are refundable and so there is no need to panic. If booked 51 weeks in advance, you can dare to choose your travel during the festive seasons as well, when the ticket prices go skyrocketing.

Similarly, if you plan your international trip with Schenegan visa, again the best time to book your flight tickets in a year in advance, as per Skyscanner. If you book a year in advance, you can save up to 62% on average ticket price.

Skyscanner’s annual survey has shown that in India, if you book even 16 weeks in advance you can gain almost 29% on an average.

A word of caution for the people booking on last minute- you generally end up paying 5% above average fare.