When you’re planning to buy a ticket for a flight, should you wait for a sale? The answer isn’t as obvious as it seems... mostly because airlines can have a creative definition of “sale”.

We’ve been monitoring flight prices for over eight years, and we’ve picked up on some useful insight and patterns in that time. Some airlines have sales seemingly at random, while others have them at the same time each year like clockwork.

Sometimes, a sale is a sale in name only. That “featured price” could simply be the highest price the airline thinks it can get you to pay. So, it’s important to know what a good price is for your ticket before you buy, even during a sale.

We’re going to break down when most airlines have sales, so you’re prepared next time you plan to book a holiday.

Quick reference

The real deal

• British Airways
• Eurostar
• Norse Atlantic Airways
• Singapore Airlines
• Virgin Atlantic

Worth a look 

• Aer Lingus
• Aegean
• Air Baltic
• Air China
• Avianca
• easyJet
• Etihad
• Jet2
• Lufthansa Group (Lufthansa/SWISS/Austrian/Brussels Airlines)
• Pegasus
• PLAY
• Ryanair
• Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)
• Scoot
• TAP
• TUI
• WestJet
• Wizz Air

Forget it

• Air France/KLM
• ANA
• Cathay Pacific
• Emirates
• Japan Airlines
• Transavia
• Thai Airways

Sales we no longer see

• Air New Zealand
• Finnair

What is an airline sale, anyway?

Just because an airline says they’re having a sale, it doesn’t mean you’re getting a great deal. Equally, if you buy a flight at a random time, you could snag a bargain purely by luck.

When you think of a sale, you naturally imagine something the airline brags about with a special home page design and advertising their “special fares”.

These official sales can be a great time to buy your ticket, but they’re not necessarily the best time. 

Flight prices naturally fluctuate throughout the year according to demand — you can read our article about how flights are priced.

What you need to know is that sometimes the best price on a flight isn’t announced at all — it’s only found in those quietest moments of the year when the airline notices a certain route isn’t getting much interest.

The best way to catch those unannounced deals is to track and regularly check a route you’re interested in. Or, sign up for our flight tip alerts, and we’ll do all that for you so you never miss a true deal.

Do all airlines run sales?

Most airlines claim to have sales, but we can say from experience that only some sales are worth paying attention to.

Many airlines advertise sales with prices only marginally better than usual, but you wouldn’t know unless you’re keeping track. Others might have decent discounts, but still be way more expensive than their competitors for a comparable flight.

We’ve written this guide to help you separate the wheat from the chaff, using our years of experience hunting for the best flight prices out there.

How our ratings work

• The real deal: These sales are almost always as good as the airline offers. You should mark these dates on your calendar.
• Worth a look: A little hit or miss — it’s worth checking out their sales, but you should go in already informed about what a good fare for your destination is.
• Forget it: These airlines barely ever hold a sale, or when they do the fares are average or even poor.
• Sales we no longer see:  This one pretty much speaks for itself. These airlines used to hold sales that we loved, but now they’re just distant memories of the past (RIP).

The real deal

British Airways

When: British Airways always has a worldwide sale starting on Boxing Day and through to the end of January. Then, another toward the end of August that lasts for a month. In recent years, they also do a sale during Black Friday at the end of November (the quality of which has been on a steady decline over the past few years).. 

Generally, almost all of their long-haul routes will be discounted and as cheap as they will ever go. Some years have been better than others, but buying during their sales is generally never a bad idea.

For their short-haul flights, you can sometimes find slightly better deals outside of their official sales, but most of the time they’ll be excellent too, with London usually seeing the vast majority of drops. 

Another nice thing about their sales is that they usually cover a good range of months — it’s not just a few dates here and there that are actually cheap. 

Eurostar

When: Black Friday, Xmas/NYE period, spring, and end of summer

We know, we know, it’s NOT an airline, but we still keep tabs on Eurostar train sales, as occasionally, they can work out cheaper than flying.

And you’ll be pleased to hear, they come around pretty frequently (every 3 months or so). The sale prices are more or less the same every time, too, offering trips across Europe for under €/£40 one-way.

Norse Atlantic Airways

Norse Atlantic Airways

When: Spring and end of summer

Being a budget airline, Norse really has to make some big moves to impress us. Which they did, in early 2024 when they suddenly announced they were introducing a free full-size 10 kg cabin bag with all economy fares.

They also expanded their UK network, launching a new non-stop route from London to Cape Town and London to Bangkok.

Taking all of this into consideration, their sales can churn out some pretty impressive fares.

From the UK, look out for the US, Caribbean, and South Africa in £200s-£300s rtn. If you live in Oslo or don’t mind a multi-city trip, keep your eyes peeled on those non-stop Bangkok fares—we’ve seen them drop below €250 rtn!

Singapore Airlines

When: Non-seasonal sales throughout the year and occasionally Black Friday. 

This one is extra sweet as they’re one of the top-2 rated airlines in the world! That doesn’t stop their sale prices from being as good as you’ll see to South East Asia. If you’re planning to go to Singapore, Vietnam, or Malaysia, you should definitely be looking out for their sale.

Their Australian routes are also worth a look. Although other airlines go slightly cheaper, you might prefer their cushier service and connection in Singapore.

Virgin Atlantic

When: Virgin Atlantic run their sales at the same time as British Airways: Christmastime to the end of January, in late August and over Black Friday.

The long-time rival to BA can’t help but keep their legendary battle going by running sales at the same time to many of the same destinations.

It’s usually worth checking both to see who’s cheaper, but Virgin Atlantic does have a few unique routes that BA doesn’t, like non-stop Manchester to Orlando and Barbados.

Worth a look

Aer Lingus

When: Aer Lingus’ best sales come mid-November — usually 7-14 days before Black Friday.

This is a good sale for flight deals between Europe & North America, including the Caribbean. As Aer Lingus also has lots of short-haul routes around Europe, you’ll usually see a nice mix of destinations that are often missed by other airlines.

Other than Black Friday, their sales are often underwhelming compared to their usual price fluctuations throughout the year. Best to track the price of the Aer Lingus routes you’re interested in.

Our eyes are usually on the non-stop Dublin to Barbados route, which we’ve seen them occasionally drop into the €250s rtn in the past year.

Aegean

When: Spring and Black Friday

We clock a sale from Aegean about twice a year, serving up discounted flights to many of the Greek islands (connecting in Athens). Their sales usually include some rarer spots like Chios and Samos, which are great if you want to see the less touristy side of Greece.

If you’re travelling with luggage, their ‘comfort flex’ upgrade will usually work out cheaper than adding a checked back with another budget airline like Wizz or easyJet. Plus, you get up front seating, which is a nice bonus.

Air Baltic

When: Xmas period, spring and end of summer and about 3 weeks before Black Friday.

Air Baltic sales tend to crop up around 2–3 times throughout the year. If you can look beyond their slightly confusing cherry themes, you can usually find some decent non-stop trips to places like Riga, Vilnius, and Tallinn.

Aside from also still including a full-size cabin bag, their sales often include lots of dates including long-weekends, which can make for some quick and cheep city breaks.

Air China

When: Black Friday and 1-2 other times scattered throughout the year.

Out of all the Chinese airlines, Air China has been the only one to stand out to us with their Black Friday sale. Last year, we saw reasonably priced trips to Taiwan, but we’ve also seen routes to the Philippines go on sale at other times throughout the year.

The main issue with this Air China is that their fares typically don’t show up on Google Flights, so they can be difficult to find.

Your best bet, once you hear there’s a sale, is to look at their monthly fare calendar on their website. Or, look out for our tips in your inbox, since we will usually list example dates for you to search directly.

Avianca

When: Black Friday and spring time.

We usually notice an Avianca sale once or twice a year, with 2024 being the second year they promoted a Black Friday sale. 

Regional Colombia fares are usually the star of the show, but you can sometimes find some rarer spots hidden in the mix. This year, we saw Santiago and Guayaquil from London and Paris, which can be used as springboards to reach Easter Island and the Galápagos!

easyJet

When: Black Friday and occasionally throughout the year.

They’ve been pretty consistent with their Black Friday sales, with decently priced short haul fares across Europe.

They also seem to have a slight edge over other budget airlines, as their sales usually offer a wider span of dates, often rolling into spring and sometimes even early summer.

Etihad

When: Etihad sales don’t tend to align with any special events, but they usually crop up every 6 months.

If you’re looking for reasonably priced routes to Australia (outside of Chinese airlines) this could be a good option. Apart from that, their sales often boast cheap non-stop fares to their hub, Abu Dhabi.

Their sales are also worth tracking for routes to the biggest cities across South East Asia: think Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Plus, you can occasionally get a good price to Sri Lanka.

In recent years, we’ve been particularly impressed with their business class sale, with some of the cheapest business class fares to India we’ve ever seen.

Jet2 

When: Xmas period, end of Summer & Black Friday

These sales can usually guarantee some cheap winter sun to places like the Mainland Spain, Malta & the Canary Islands. They are a good one to look out for if you're planning to take luggage, since a 10 kg cabin bag is included in all fares. Plus, they often have discount codes for checked bags floating around their website, which can make adding luggage a lot cheaper than with Ryanair or easyJet.

For extra savings, sign up to a Jet2 account, as members often get a higher percentage off sale prices, or exclusive offers. 

Lufthansa Group (Lufthansa/SWISS/Austrian/Brussels Airlines)

When: Historically, we see Lufthansa Group’s best sales most often in early winter (November) and late winter (February).

In the past, they’ve offered a “companion deal” that offers nearly half-price flights when you buy two or more tickets. This wasn’t just for economy cabins, it applied to premium economy and business class too.

These airlines also do small, sporadic, announced sales to a selection of international destinations during the year. Sometimes they do voucher codes for a flat discount on all their flights. You can find them advertised on their homepage or if you subscribe to their newsletter.

Pegasus

Pegasus

When: End of summer and possibly in the spring

Pegasus hasn’t been in our good books recently, since they started charging for their full-sized cabin bags. But, that’s not to say their sales aren’t still worth a look—when they decide to announce them as official sales, that is.

You can get to some harder to reach spots like Oman, Georgia, and regional Turkey for a pretty decent price. Plus, for now, they are keeping their cabin bag price fairly low, so the total cost is usually still worth it.

PLAY

PLAY

When: In the new year, end of summer, and Black Friday

PLAY may be a fairly basic budget airline, but it does have a few redeeming qualities that have been known to grab our attention during sale periods. 

The biggest, being the fact that they offer some of the cheapest fares across the pond that we’ve ever seen. We're talking London to Baltimore and Boston in the £250s rtn.

They also offer a cool stopover program where you can extend your layover in Iceland for no extra cost.

Finally, we’ve also spotted them throwing some love to a few of the smaller airports around the UK. For example, this year, they ran a temporary route connecting Cardiff to Iceland and onwards to their other US routes.

Ryanair

When: They have a “sale” every week, more or less.

Truly the king of flight sales, Ryanair are “having a sale” more often than not. Occasionally, their sales take the form of a “buy one get one free” offer that’s particularly good for partners and families. In recent years, this has unfortunately been replaced with a “buy one, get one, half price’ offer.

They’re more aggressive about reacting to the market demand than any other airline, so they’re one of the few airlines that you can fly cheaper short-notice flights with sometimes. Still, try to book at least two weeks before if you can.

Most of their sales (probably about 75%) are not worth your attention, but they’re worth checking out for the proper blowout fares that they can serve up now and again.

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)

When: You can be confident that there’ll be a SAS sale for Black Friday and another over Christmas. They will generally also do a sale in the spring and a “back to school” sale in late summer.

This is a good sale to look out for — you’ll find much more than flights to Scandinavia. Their routes to Asia are often a highlight of the sale. You’ll also find plenty of cheap fares between all regions of Europe and the USA.

Sale fares do fluctuate between great and just good, so it’s worth having a target price before you click buy. If you’re a member of Jack’s Flight Club, you can look through our old flight alerts to see their best fares. Hint, hint.

Scoot

When: Possibly over the Xmas period

Scoot is another no frills airline, so their sales need to be pretty cheap to impress us. Sadly, it seems like we’re seeing them less and less over the past years, with the budget Chinese airlines usually out-pricing them on Australian and Asian destinations.

Occasionally, you may be able to still snag a cheapish trip from Berlin. Alternatively, you can also keep an eye out for when departures from Athens go on sale, and create a DIY multi-city trip.  

TAP

TAP Air Portugal

When: End of summer and sometimes Black Friday.

When TAP decides to pop up, they’re definitely worth a look in. As long as you don’t mind the occasional long layover in Lisbon, you can get to some pretty rare places like regional Brazil and Cape Verde for a pretty decent price.

They tend to hold sales 2-3 times a year.

TUI

When: Black Friday, and the 1-10 days before a departure date.

While TUI may not hold official sales every week, they do certainly slash their last-minute fares pretty frequently. As long as you're happy to play a game of chicken and hold off buying for a while, you can usually guarantee a fare that’s substantially cheaper than the original starting price.

If you don’t like living that on the edge, they have been known to show up on Black Friday. But, don’t expect lotsmore notice before your departure dates

WestJet

When: WestJet occasionally has sales over the Black Friday and Christmas holiday periods.

One of the few airlines whose “normal” fares are only a little higher than their sale fares. But hey, who doesn’t want to knock an extra 30-50 £ or € off your ticket? An especially useful sale to look for if you’re interested in flying to Western Canada.

It’s worth noting that WestJet fares often go “unofficially” on sale — definitely one to track through the year.

Currently, our fave route of theirs to look out for is from Paris to Honolulu, which we’ve seen as low as the €550s rtn!

 Wizz Air

When: Wizz Air usually participates in big events like Black Friday/Christmas sales and impromptu sales at other times.

We would call their sales “hit-or-miss” — many of their best fares aren’t part of some announced sale. When their sale is good, however, it’s often really good. 

They’ve really been increasing their destination network recently, so you can find cheap fares to Egypt, the Canary Islands and Saudi Arabia. 

Even outside of sale time, it’s worth checking out their “Wizz Discount Club” membership. Adding it can (but not always) save you more money than it costs. Plus, you’ll get more discounts if you fly with them again in the next year.

Forget it

Air France KLM Group

Air France KLM Group

When: Very rare special event sales.

KLM & Air France don’t really bother with sales. KLM did have a 100th Anniversary sale a few years ago, but how often are those going to come around? 

We do see them sending promo codes out now and again, usually for a small percentage discount. The problem is the terms and conditions make them only valid for flights that are already too expensive to make it worth it.

On the plus side, their standard prices are on the low end typically and don’t fluctuate as much.

ANA

All Nippon Airline (ANA)

When: Extremely rare.

It’s a big shame that ANA never seem to do sales because they’re very highly rated. 

Although they advertise “featured fares” now and again, we’ve never seen them be truly competitive. Maybe one day!

Cathay Pacific

When: Possibly Black Friday.

Pre-pandemic, we always looked forward to a sale from Cathay, but they’ve not impressed much in the past few years.

Their excellent non-stop service to Hong Kong is often the top pick, but routes across South East Asia and Australia are often included in their sales. 

If you specifically want to travel with them, it’s worth setting up price alerts for their flights because they sometimes do “unannounced” sales at random times during the year.

They also sometimes hold competitions, games, and quizzes for events like Lunar New Year. Taking part will usually result in a small discount code, which is nice if you were already planning to travel with them, but wouldn’t make it worth booking a spontaneous flight.

Emirates

Emirates

When: Almost never. The last big Emirates sale we saw was in November 2018.

That doesn’t mean that you’ll never find deals on Emirates flights, but their announced sales are not special. 

Most of the time they discount only a few routes at a time, seemingly at random. Dubai is the most frequent destination you’ll find deals for.

Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines (JAL)

When: Very rarely. 

While they’re part of the same airline alliance as British Airways, JAL used to coordinates their sales with them, but this is no longer the case. You can fly with either if you’re going to Tokyo or Osaka, but if you’re planning to go anywhere further afield, then JAL will have you covered.

Unfortunately, we haven’t seen a sale worth covering from Jal in years and with the increased competition from low-cost Chinese airlines, they would have to do something pretty big to impress us.

Transavia

Transavia

When: They do have sales sometimes, but they’re barely worth mentioning.

Transavia, a Dutch low-cost airline, likes to have one price for their flights and then stick to it. 

That price can be a decent deal, so don’t feel bad about booking with them if they seem like the best option. You can be confident that they’re not going to get cheaper after you book.

Thai Airways

Thai

When: Black Friday is your best bet.

Thailand’s official airline claims to have deals or a sale all the time, but they’re rarely anywhere close to good.

We have seen them offer a few good Black Friday selections in the past, but nothing worth shouting about in recent years.

Sales we no longer see

Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand

Last sale we noticed: 2019 Black Friday

Back in the good ol’ days, Air Zealand used to have one of our favourite Black Friday sales, with a good amount of smaller offers dotted throughout the year. But, since 2019 we haven’t seen anything worth sending your way. 

Finnair

Last sale we noticed: They sometimes do something over Black Friday, but it’s not guaranteed to be from Europe and it’s not guaranteed to be good.

Heading to Helsinki? Finnair’s BF sale might just be worth a look in, if you’re lucky. For their other routes, don’t assume their sales are offering truly great deals. 

Finnair tends to price their flights in “phases”. They jump between very expensive, average and very cheap for a few months at a time, mostly with no announced sales. You can get very good deals with them to Asia from Europe, but waiting on a sale isn’t the way to do it.

That's it! We'll keep adding airlines to this list as we discover new patterns and trends. Send us an email if you have any questions or tips that we can add :-)