From The Sunday Times Travel magazine

BOOK A HOLIDAY WHEN YOU LEAST FEEL LIKE IT

You might be dying to book another trip while suffering post-holiday blues, but so is everybody else. Peak holiday periods are August and Christmas, so January and September are the busiest months for bookings. Instead, book your Christmas break in July and your summer holiday in November. In July, we found a Christmas flight to Turin for £31 (Easyjet), but by September this had risen to £186. The beginning of each month, right after payday, is also a busy booking time. Wait until after the 7th of the month.

SURF THE NET WHEN NOBODY ELSE DOES

Back-to-work blues mean that Mondays and Tuesdays are the busiest days for bookings - Gail Syndon at Opodo can pinpoint a peak at 'Tuesday lunch hour'. Lastminute.com's search levels surge at lunch, but actual bookings climax between 7pm and 10pm on weekday evenings - 'once the prices they found at lunchtime have been discussed over dinner'. So, it figures that the travel websites aren't going to lower prices around these hours. Instead, browse on Wednesdays and Thursdays very early or late - we found a flight to New York on Tuesday lunchtime for £422, but by Wednesday at 11pm the same flight had dropped to £295.

FLY MIDWEEK

No-frills flights are always emptier (and cheaper) midweek, since few of their passengers are business travellers. If you must travel on the weekend, go Saturday to Monday instead of the ever-popular Friday to Sunday. Failing that, at least book your flight in the middle of the week, since airlines often raise fares late on Friday - then lower them again on Monday morning if popularity proved low. We tracked the price of a flight to Chicago and saw it jump from £318 midweek to £403 on Saturday, then back to £318 the next week.

IF FLYING SCHEDULED, BOOK IN ADVANCE

The fact is, scheduled airlines can't offer the last-minute bargain-basement deals that no-frills and charters can. Anna Martin at British Airways says 'We have a rigid fare structure, but this means you can be sure that a ba.com fare won't go back down once you've booked. This also avoids customer disappointment.' Book in advance if you're travelling over a public holiday - the chances of a late deal are non-existent, unless you travel on the actual day of the holiday (eg, Christmas Day).

AVOID SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

Instead, travel on the 'shoulder periods' of June and September. Alternatively, there are some bargains in August if you can handle the heat. Cities such as Madrid, Paris and Venice can have great deals.

GET THE WEBSITES TO DO THE HARD WORK FOR YOU

Travelocity.co.uk has its Farewatch service, which notifies you when fares to your favourite destinations hit rock-bottom. Also keep an eye on the news blog at Cheapflights.co.uk, which covers the airlines' clearance sales. Sunmaster.co.uk is good for charter deals and often resells cancelled holidays (eg, fares to India for £229 and Jamaica for £189).

THE LONG & SHORT OF IT

You can get last-minute deals on charter flights and package holidays, but you should book scheduled and no-frills flights in advance. If you're hoping to fly in the next month, the best booking moment is between Wednesday 10pm and 6am the next day, after the 7th of the month. Travel midweek or, if you must fly over the weekend, leave after lunch on Saturday.