And the Cheapest Day of the Week to Fly Is…?

A new study says this day is the winner for both domestic and international flights.

By the time Friday morning rolls around, most of us are more than ready for the weekend. Now, travel search engine Kayak says there’s another reason to get that weekend started early—if you’re planning to weekend somewhere other than where you live, that is.

According to new data, Friday is the cheapest day of the week to fly, both domestically and internationally. The most expensive day? Monday, which was already no one’s favorite day of the week. And it’s financially worth it: By starting your trip at the end of the week instead of the beginning of it, the release notes, you can save yourself, on average, $100US.

Coming home is a similar story, though flipped. Given that people often plan their return travel to be back in time for work on Monday, Kayak reports that Monday is actually the cheapest day of the week to fly home. (Thursday is the most expensive.) Comparing return flight prices between the two days of the week, Kayak found that travelers could save another $100US, approximately, if they returned home on a Monday instead of a Thursday. For the results, Kayak looked at both domestic and international round-trip flights in economy class; evaluating search dates between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017 for travel dates in that same period.

Of course, “What are the cheapest days to fly?” is a complicated question. Like most things with airfare—including the best day to buy airline tickets, and that magical “cheap flight day” premise—methodology differs, as do results. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Though it’s impossible to definitively say there’s a best day to fly, there are best practices. For now, it seems, you have a good reason for carving out as many 4-day weekends (leaving Friday, coming back Monday) as your boss will tolerate. Tell him/her we said so.

(Source: Conde Nast Traveller)