What Is The Best Time To Book Flight Back To Nigeria For December?

What Is The Best Time To Book Flight Back To Nigeria For December?

Nigerians are a thrilled and hospitable lot. Like so many other festivities around the country, Christmas is celebrated with a lot of fanfare. It is usually a hectic period and a time where most Nigerians take a well-deserved break to reunite with their family and friends.

Nigerians in the Diaspora and some foreigners alike all want to experience the celebrations that come with December. One limiting factor, however, is the high travel cost associated with this period, especially when you are on a budget. There is so much inconsistent advice on how to get the airline operators’ best travel deals.

Booking your flight tickets has been made easier with the advent of the internet. The challenge, however, is knowing the best time to get airline tickets at a pocket-friendly price. Some frequent fliers claim the best time to book a flight back to Nigeria is Monday, while others argue that Sundays are far affordable to book.

Factors like oil prices, socio-political status, weather, and competition goes a long way in determining how much you are charged for a flight. However, some destinations are season-dependent, as high passenger traffic will mean a much more expensive travel cost. A trip back to Nigeria during December falls into this category.

The best time to book a flight back to Nigeria for the December celebrations is as much as 3-4 months, which gives us the month of October according to data by Opodo UK customers flying into Nigeria.

Research by Skyscanner has disclosed that if you want to bag the best deals, you should try to book around 13 weeks before your travel date. If you can afford to book your flight between July and August, you will be saving up to $500 in airfare.

As early as possible, it remains the best time to book a flight back to Nigeria for December. The usual discounts that accompany flights close to the departure time are not offered during this period. The question then is, why are flights more expensive closer to travel dates at the end of the year?

Data published by Asaptickets reveals that a Christmas flight to Lagos bought in July costs $1, 000 in September/October; it rises to between $1, 200 to $1,300. The same ticket purchased in December could go as much as $1, 600. The absolute last day to get a reasonable deal on a flight home for Christmas is December 8, after that day, prices will spike as much as $5+ /day cites a report by Hopper. The reasons for this disparity include:

1. Airlines price their seats in blocks. So, they make a certain percentage of the seats available early at meager fare, but not all the seats. This is usually to check the viability of the route and test the passenger traffic.
2. Fewer seats are available closer to the travel dates. That’s why the value of the remaining tickets goes higher as the law of demand and supply is now at its peak.
3. Airlines are also aware that passengers who need to travel will pay more for it despite the high cost.

The particular day you travel is also a little factor in stretching your ticket price, maybe by a few Nairas. Skyscanner data also showed that it could be cheaper to fly on December 25 as previous year prices dropped around this period.

That is if you can afford to spend Christmas day flying, or you can target flying on Christmas Eve. You should avoid booking your tickets for the last weekend before Christmas if your target is saving on airfare.

Some other tips to imbibe to make the most out of your airfare include:

1. If getting the best deals on bookings is your goal, you need to be flexible on travel dates. There are instances you come across the best deal at an inconvenient time slot.  
2. Try flying to or flying from an alternate airport that is not a major hub. For instance, flying from London Luton or London Stansted often turns out cheaper than flying from the ever-busy London Heathrow airport.
3. Go for the hidden extra fees such as baggage cost, additional legroom fees, and food purchases before booking. These seemingly minute details might be the difference in your total traveling cost.