It’s no secret that travel, particularly summer travel, has become head-spinningly expensive. With external factors such as political situations, rising fuel prices and pent-up demand following the global pandemic, flight prices are at an all-time high, and hotels, no matter what the nightly cost, are fully booked worldwide. In an effort to help travellers save some money this season and travel more affordable, Skyscanner has unveiled the cheapest days to fly this summer.

According to Ayoub El Mamoun, Skyscanner’s destination expert, travellers need to be flexible when travelling this summer and should be utilising the site’s ‘whole month’ search tool to allow them to see cheap flights at a glance and pick the right deal.

‘Searching by multiple dates is one of your best chances of finding a bargain,’ explains the destination expert.’ ‘Flight prices are all based on supply and demand. Consider travelling a day before or after your original departure dates, as flying on less popular days of the week can be cheaper.’ The tool makes it easy to see that travelling between the 5th and 11th of August is the cheapest week to fly and to explore destinations like Thailand after the rush of school holiday goers and holidaymakers looking to instantly getaway this summer. Skyscanner also revealed that Wednesday is the cheapest day to fly, often saving you up to 40%.

Along with offering affordable travel advice, the travel site also revealed that 77% of UAE travellers are happy to swap their holiday favourites and look for an alternative, more affordable destination for their summer travels. Destinations rising in popularity this season include Tokyo, Romania’s cool capital of Bucharest and the paradise Italian island Sardinia, known for its white-sand beaches.

‘The desire for new and alternative destinations appears to be increasing this year, as in 2022, only 41% of global travellers surveyed said they wanted to explore new places versus returning to an old favourite,’ added Ayoub El Mamoun. ‘We’re seeing a big uplift in the number of searches for underrated destinations from the UAE, including Hanoi (+373%) and Osaka (+332%), to name a few. With almost half (48%) of UAE travellers yet to book their summer holiday this year, according to our latest research, and 41% of those admitting that they’re still deciding on where to go, Skyscanner is on hand to help find them find a lesser known and cheaper alternative to their usual holiday hot spot.’

For example, UAE travellers are able to secure return flights from Abu Dhabi to Bucharest from AED171 this August, a charming capital marrying old and new, with buzzing restaurants, plenty of museums and affordable prices. Those seeking a beach escape can swap the Greek islands and over-subscribed Mediterranean hotspots for Sardinia (with return flights from AED 658 this August). Located between Italy and Africa, Sardinia is a beautiful and colourful island home to the old, quintessentially Italian capital of Cagliari, alongside Catalan-centric cities and one of the glitziest yacht ports in the Mediterranean – Porto Cervo and the Costa Smeralda. Flydubai recently launched flights to Sardinia, so deals can still be found.

Another tip is to make the most of Skyscanner’s ‘Everywhere’ search tool, which orders flights across the globe from lowest to highest price from the chosen departure airport. When searching from the UAE, Kutaisi (Georgia) is available for for AED 261 return, Salalah (Oman) from AED 269 return or Samarkand (Uzbekistan) for AED 199 return.