September & Christmas Flights: Best Times to Book Cheap

Athens from £67 return on easyJet from Gatwick in September versus £189 return in August on the exact same route. That's not a typo. That's what dropping out of school holiday season does to flight prices, and if you don't have kids, you're leaving money on the table every year by not exploiting it.

Rome from £54 return on Ryanair from Stansted is almost offensive value for a city that costs £160+ in August. September temperatures in Rome sit around 26 degrees, the queues at the Colosseum are half the length, and you're not sharing a restaurant terrace with every family from Surrey simultaneously.

Split, Croatia from £79 return on Ryanair from Stansted is another one worth jumping on fast. The Adriatic is still warm enough to swim in throughout September, and the old town stops feeling like a theme park once the peak-summer crowds thin out. Prices that low rarely stick around past mid-August so check now.

The pattern holds across southern Europe. Temperatures between 24 and 27 degrees in most coastal destinations, no school holiday surcharge inflating everything, and airlines desperate to fill seats after the summer rush ends. September is genuinely the best month most UK travellers never properly use.

Istanbul from £89 return on Pegasus or Turkish Airlines from Heathrow is the September deal that tends to surprise people. Both carriers fly the route, Pegasus slightly cheaper, Turkish Airlines slightly more reliable on punctuality. Either way, £89 return to one of the most compelling cities in the world is a serious bargain.

September in Istanbul means low 20s, far fewer tourists than July or August, and a city that genuinely rewards slower exploration. The ferry across the Bosphorus costs about 50p. A decent dinner with wine in Karaköy comes in well under £25 a head. Your overall trip budget stretches much further than it would at peak.

Worth flagging: Pegasus charges for hold luggage and the cabin bag allowance is strict, so factor in roughly £18-25 each way if you're packing more than a small backpack. Still, even with bags added, £130 return to Istanbul in September is hard to argue with. Check both airlines separately as prices fluctuate independently even on the same dates.

Flying out on 23 December versus 24 December can save you £40-60 per person on most European routes. Christmas Eve is consistently cheaper because most people want to be home by then, not travelling. If your plans allow it, that one-day shift is one of the easiest wins in travel.

For Christmas sun, Tenerife over Christmas week from £107 return on Jet2 from Manchester is the one families keep coming back to. Jet2 includes a generous luggage allowance in that price, which matters when you're travelling for a week with kids. Temperatures in Tenerife in late December sit around 22 degrees, which after a grey British autumn feels like a completely different planet.

Lanzarote from £97 return on easyJet from Gatwick is slightly cheaper and slightly quieter than Tenerife over Christmas. The catch is easyJet's bag fees, which can add £30-50 to the headline price depending on what you're bringing. Still comes in cheaper than most people expect for a Christmas week in the Canaries.

Book these sooner rather than later. Christmas sun routes from the UK are some of the fastest-selling flights of the year, and prices that look reasonable in August start climbing sharply once September arrives and people start planning properly.

Prague, Lisbon, and Amsterdam all come in at £89-139 return for New Year's Eve if you book at the right moment, with easyJet and Ryanair covering all three from various UK airports. Prague tends to be the cheapest of the three. Ryanair fly Stansted to Prague from around £89 return over the New Year period. Amsterdam on easyJet from Gatwick sits closer to £119-139 return for the same dates.

Lisbon at £109-129 return on TAP Air Portugal from Heathrow or easyJet from Gatwick is the pick for New Year if the budget stretches slightly. The city is genuinely electric on 31 December, the weather is mild rather than freezing unlike Prague, and you avoid the Amsterdam crowds that make the city centre almost unmanageable on New Year's Eve.

Here's the timing thing most people miss: the best Christmas and New Year flight deals drop in January, sometimes as early as the first week. Airlines release their December schedules and price them low to generate early bookings before summer demand kicks in. Right now, in August, some of those deals are still available before the back-to-school period triggers a fresh round of browsing and prices edge up.

Lock in December flights now. The summer rush, when millions of UK travellers start panic-booking 2027 holidays, will push prices up further across the board. Anything you book today for Christmas is almost certainly cheaper than it will be by October.