Expedia chose Paris to release its annual ‘Air Travel Hacks’ study, publishing the French-language edition on 20 February 2026. Mining millions of booking records, the report concludes that Fridays are now the cheapest day to fly out of France, saving leisure and corporate travellers up to 18 % on average compared with a Sunday departure. For international tickets, Monday has overtaken Wednesday as the best day to book, delivering a 7 % saving versus Tuesday, the most expensive. On domestic routes, Wednesday remains the sweet spot and January the cheapest month, thanks to a post-holiday demand lull. The data carry practical weight for mobility planners. Many multinationals operating in France negotiate annual price caps on economy and premium-economy fares; knowing that a Friday outbound can shave almost one-fifth off short-haul costs allows travel managers to push non-critical trips to the end of the week. Similarly, airfare budgets for expatriate home-leave can be stretched by locking in Monday-morning bookings. Interestingly, the study notes that business travellers are returning home earlier in the week, freeing up mid-week seat inventory and pushing holiday-makers to shift their plans. This behavioural shift aligns with French labour-market trends: the four-day office week adopted by several CAC-40 firms in 2025 has compressed corporate travel into Monday-to-Wednesday blocks. Expedia also lists the most economical point-to-point fares under €150—Lille-Marseille, Nice-Strasbourg, Nantes-Londres—which could inform internal mobility policies for short European assignments that do not warrant a rail pass. With airfares still 12 % above 2019 levels, timing is becoming as important as carrier choice.
Source: Expedia Newsroom (France)
