Cheap flights to
London

People always wonder when the exact perfect time is to book the cheapest flight, and the truth is there is no magic day. Flight prices change all the time. But there is a window when you have a pretty great shot at finding a deal. We call this the Goldilocks Window, the time period that’s not too close and not too far away from your departure date. That’s about 1-3 months ahead of domestic flights and 2-8 months before an international flight.

London, like most of the world, is busiest from June–August. It’s also very popular in December. That means you should start looking for flights for a summer trip in December and flights for December in June. We’ve seen that flights pretty consistently jump 21, 14, and 7 days ahead of departure, so make sure to book before those dates.

The Greek Islands Trick is when you get as close to your final destination as possible for the cheapest price, then find a budget airline flight or book a train for the final leg. We call it the Greek Islands Trick because the islands are almost always expensive to visit, and there are great deals to be found if you fly to London or another major city first, then book a budget flight. But the trick can be used for any destination, even a hub like London.

If you want to visit London during an expensive time, play around with other European cities. Is Dublin cheaper? Or Paris? From there, you can take a train, budget airline flight, or even drive. Getting to Europe is usually the most expensive part. This trick requires a bit more work but could save you a ton of money.

Depending on where you live, you’re probably used to checking flights from nearby airports. If you live in Miami, you probably check flights from Fort Lauderdale automatically and have maybe even searched for flights from Tampa. But what about other states? We see astonishing deals all the time from New York, Atlanta, LA, and plenty of smaller airports too.

If you see a $202 roundtrip fare from New York to London, even if you live nowhere near New York, it could be worth another flight to get there. Even if you add a $200 flight from your home city to New York, you could still save a few hundred dollars on your total flight price. It requires a bit more planning, but some deals are worth it.

We know that summer and December are busy times to visit London, so naturally, it’s cheaper to fly during other times of the year. Shoulder seasons, like April and May or September–November, are great times to visit and find cheaper flights. January and February are even cheaper months to fly.

If you are going to travel during peak season, try to fly on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Those are the cheapest days to fly, while Fridays and Sundays are the most expensive.

Keeping track of flight prices can take time, and often you can miss great deals. Setting a flight alert takes the effort off your hands. Simply set up a fare alert for your itinerary, then wait for an email that says your fare has dropped. We recommend setting up alerts ahead of the Goldilocks Window to get the best deals.

London sees about 30 million visitors per year, and it has six airports, including two major international airports. This popular destination is also one of the easiest to reach. There are direct flights multiple times per day from at least 25 US airports. And from most airports in the US, you can reach London with just one connection.