With icy weather, grey skies and the generally dull atmosphere that accompanies January spreading around us, many of us will be looking ahead to book sun-filled trips for later in the year.
It’s tempting to organise your summer holiday this month, with the abundance of sales offering deals on travelling.
But a travel expert from Which? has revealed you’re better off waiting – and holding out for a better deal.
Which? tracked more than 40,000 summer package holiday prices, from major providers, last year and found that prices, on average, came down after January.
In fact, you would have paid £112 more per person (on average) if you’d booked in January than if you’d left booking until the month before travel.
That could be nearly £450 of holiday money down the drain for a family of four.
Guy Hobbs, Which?’s travel expert, said: ‘We can’t be sure that 2026 prices will follow the same pattern, but it’s enough to make me sceptical of the so-called early bird discounts.’
So, when were the cheapest package holidays on sale last summer?
Booking holidays in January seems like a great idea, with plenty of sales around (stock)
July was the cheapest month to book a holiday in August for many key European spots.
After July, the best month to book differed by country. April was best for Bulgaria and the Balearic Islands.
May was the next best month for Morocco, Canary Islands, Cyprus, Croatia, Spain and Italy (although for the last spot, January was good too).
For France, Turkey and Portugal, June was the best time to book.
Which? gathered 43,510 prices from Oct 2024 to July 2025 for a seven night package holiday, including flights, based on two sharing a double or twin room, in August 2025 from Jet2 Holidays or easyJet Holidays to find the cheapest month to book, on average, from Jan to June 2025.
For years Which? Travel has been advising holidaymakers to book peak summer packages as early as possible.
Guy said: ‘After the pandemic, there was such demand for summer sun that prices started high and, aside from a dip during the January sales, went up and up as we got closer to summer. But in 2025 it all changed.
‘In the majority of destinations we looked at, we saw the highest prices for an August summer holiday the preceding October, and the lowest just one month before – in July.
But if you wait until later in the year, you could be in with a better chance of cutting costs
‘The reason behind this change may be people waiting to commit to holidays amid financial concerns. Several companies, including Jet2, reported that bookings were made much closer to departure last year. This trend likely led to some deep discounting.’
Unfortunately there’s no way to predict the best time to buy. Prices go up and down according to demand, but the same economic pressures that caused people to delay booking until later in the year still apply in 2026.
If you can be flexible on timings, and don’t have your heart set on a specific destination, you may want to hold out and see what bargains July holds. But that is quite a gamble.
Guy added: ‘But if, like me, you know exactly where you want to go, and you’re confined to travelling in the school holidays, then there is an alternative. The data from last year shows a booking window between April and June, where prices were lower, on average, than in January, but availability remained high.
‘That’s when I’ll be scouring the offers from the Best Package Holiday Providers, and hoping to bag a bargain.’
