Benefits of booking early flights during summer travel
Experts recommend early flights to avoid delays during summer's storm-prone travel season. Credit: iStock
Welcome to summer travel season, also known as book-that-early-flight season.
Experts always suggest the earliest flight of the day as your best shot for avoiding delays. But in the summer months, when storms snarl air traffic and delays mount throughout the day, it’s an especially useful tip.
In July of last year, just 69 percent of flights arrived on time. Roughly 70 percent were on time in June.
“It really comes down to Murphy’s Law: ‘What can go wrong will go wrong,’” said Kyle Potter, executive editor of the travel site Thrifty Traveler. “The more the day goes on, the more likely even small problems are likely to become big ones.”
In an analysis of on-time performance released by the Transportation Department, Potter’s site found the earliest flight of the morning was 30 percent more likely to leave on time than an afternoon or evening flight.
Travel adviser Mindy Holt, a former flight attendant, recommends early-morning flights to clients, with an honest admission.
“I always tell them of course I don’t even like to do it,” said Holt, who is based in Tampa. “It’s not fun.”
Painful wake-up time aside, early-morning flights have a lot going for them.
The plane is usually already at the airport ready to take off rather than heading in from another destination where it could encounter delays. Because summer thunderstorms typically develop in the afternoon, weather tends to be less of a problem for early-morning flights.
First flights of the day are often less expensive than the ones that depart at later, sleep-friendlier hours.
And if something does go wrong, travelers have more alternative flights to choose from for the remainder of the day than they would if they were flying in the afternoon or at night.
“The more time you give yourself to get that backup flight, the better odds you’re going to have,” Potter said.
Holt said it’s worth the early departure for a better shot at a smoother travel experience. Plus, that means spending more time wherever you’re going instead of at home or the airport.
“Extra time on vacation is how I look at it,” she said. “You’re going to be spending money doing it, why not get that extra two hours at your destination?”
