The summer travel season is here and despite price hikes, flight prices have increased by around 6% year over year for domestic travel and 10% for international travel the second half of the year according to KAYAK search data, people are continuing to prioritize travel with searches on KAYAK having increased around 47% for domestic travel and about 16% for international travel vs. last year.

To help travellers continue to navigate some of the increased pricing, KAYAK is launching a new “Best Time to Travel tool” as THE place to start your trip planning, uncovering optimal times of the year to fly and when to book by for a great price and trip experience.

With over 280,000 routes to choose from, KAYAK’s Best Time to Travel tool incorporates predictive data from KAYAK’s billions of travel queries to forecast future flight and hotel prices so travellers can easily compare pricing against weather and seasonality information to determine the best time to travel for their next trip. Let’s give it a whirl.

Step 1: Enter your destination – learn the best month to go
Plug in your home airport, final destination and choose from KAYAK’s most popular trip lengths (i.e. are you travelling for 4, 7 or 14 days). KAYAK will return the best month to visit based on a number of factors including price, crowds and weather. For example, March is the best month for Delhities (from New Delhi) to visit Toronto for a 7 day trip  (one of KAYAK’s most popular summer travel destinations) for low flight prices, good weather and fewer crowds.
Travellers can also view a breakdown of the average, minimum and maximum flight prices for every month of the year. Continuing with our theme, flight prices to Toronto are generally highest during the summer months (May through August) and cheapest during the low season months like March.

Step 2: Narrow down your travel dates
You’ve nailed down which month to go, now it’s time to figure out which days to fly for less. KAYAK’s calendar view provides a yearly overview of how flight prices change depending on the dates you choose. For a 7-day trip to Toronto, leaving on March 6  and returning on March 20 to March 26  will be your best bet.

Step 3: Time your booking window to maximize savings
Once you know where and when you’re going, it’s time to figure out when to book. And guess what? KAYAK’s new tool has you covered here too. Recommended dates from KAYAK will automatically populate and the tool will advise you on the best day to book both your flight and hotel before prices start to rise. For a 7-day trip to Toronto, KAYAK recommends booking your flight in October.

Not ready to book? No problem. Add a Price Alert so you know exactly when prices will rise and fall for the flight or hotel you want.

Tarun Tahiliani, Country Manager – KAYAK, said, “At KAYAK, every tech-backed tool is built to make travel simpler, cheaper and more efficient for users, be it our travel search engine that finds the great deals or the price alert that makes it easy to lock in the best price.

The Best Time To Travel tool is the next natural progression for us, since it addresses a key pain point – uncertainty while planning. Using our search data, including weather forecasts, price forecasts, projected crowds, and much more, we’re removing the guesswork for the travel planning process.

With our predictive analysis, travellers can rest assured that they’re choosing not just the best month to travel but also the most economical booking window. We’re using our data to give travellers the information they need to make decisive actions and ultimately simplify the planning process for everyone.”

Additional  results from the KAYAK.co.in Best Time to Travel tool using a 7 day trip**: