As the summer holiday season is about to hit imminently, finding the best deals for flights that offer the best flying experience is high on most people’s agendas. Fortunately, the best time and day to fly in 2025 has been revealed according to new data. By researching over 9 million customer feedback from airport travellers, HappyOrNot were also able to pinpoint the biggest causes for complaints faced by holidaymakers in airports.
The customer feedback company analysed comments pertaining to over 50 countries, all backed up by AI-driven data insights and found the best and worst times to travel in 2025 and how to avoid “unnecessary stress” this summer. And it turns out, the earlier you fly, the happier your airport experience is likely to be.
The best day of the week to book your flights is on a Tuesday, according to the research, whereas the worst day is Sunday.
Data from Q1 in 2025 also revealed the best times to fly are 7am, 8am and 4am, with the worst time being midnight.
The happiest times for travel was according to a whopping 84.8% of positive customer feedback with the least revealing a 79.3% agreement.
To further understand what month of the year was the best and worst to travel, HappyOrNot also analysed over 51 million customer feedback responses from airport travellers across 50+ countries for the 2024 period.
The worst month for flying was in August (79.2% positive customer feedback) and the best was in February (82.8% positive customer feedback).
“As summer approaches and peak travel season begins, airports face growing pressure to deliver smooth, stress-free experiences,” said Miika Mäkitalo, CEO of HappyOrNot.
“By analysing feedback from our airport terminals and applying AI-driven insights – such as open-text analysis – we’ve identified key moments when the travel experience tends to break down, enabling operations teams to deploy resources more effectively.
“Early mornings like 4am, 7am, and 8am continue to be the happiest times to travel as these quieter hours often mean cleaner terminals, fresh staff, and shorter queues”.
As for what’s working at airports and what’s not in 2025, the biggest thorn in traveller’s sides were amenities, or lack thereof.
These include things such as seating, charging stations, signage, and quiet zones with 77.4% positive feedback.
Not far behind are check-in (80%) and washrooms (82.6%), all suggesting that airport basics still need much work.
On the flip side, however, the highlight when it comes to the ultimate airport experience went to food and beverage options, topping the charts with 95.2% positive customer feedback with passport control coming in a close second at 92%, followed by customer service (88.7%).
