Diwali lands on 8 November in 2026, and that timing reshuffles the whole booking calendar. School half-terms in the UK and Germany don’t line up with it, the monsoon has properly finished, and every family in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Toronto’s Brampton corridor is suddenly trying to get to the same place at the same time. Across three years of Diwali trips, my two booking approaches have produced very different numbers.
Booking early is a bet on a date you might not keep
Two years ago I locked in a London to Delhi return on Air India for £412, booked in mid-July for a late-October departure. By the first week of September the same route on the same carrier was showing £680 for the dates either side of Diwali. So early worked. But here’s the catch, and it’s a big one: I ended up shifting my return by four days to catch a friend’s wedding in Jaipur, and the change fee plus fare difference ate £190 of the saving. Early booking only pays if your dates are genuinely fixed.
What I’ve learned is that for long-haul, the sweet spot sits somewhere around ten to fourteen weeks out for a fixed date. Beyond that you’re guessing. For short-haul within India, it’s tighter, maybe four to six weeks.
The flexible approach wins when you’re staying put
Last year I did the opposite. I flew into Mumbai on a one-way with IndiGo, no return booked, and figured I’d sort the rest once I knew where I’d actually be for the main day. The one-way cost me ₹5,400 (about £50) booked eleven days out. Fine. The return, booked six days before flying, was ₹9,100. Less fine. But I got to spend Diwali in my aunt’s flat in Bandra instead of a hotel in Delhi, which would have run me ₹11,000 a night minimum during festival week.
If you’re moving between Indian cities during the festival, expect the fare to move under you. When I priced a Delhi to Mumbai hop for the 7th of November, ten days out, it was ₹7,200 one way. The same seat three weeks earlier was ₹3,900. That’s the gap you’re playing with. If you want to compare what’s actually available, check Kupi.com for Delhi – Mumbai tickets and you’ll see the spread yourself, though the numbers move daily.
Things worth actually doing before you pay, whatever approach you take:
- Set a price alert on your route at least three months out and check it weekly, not daily.
- Decide whether your dates are locked. If they’re not, don’t book early.
- Add the baggage fee before you compare. A ₹3,900 fare with 15kg costs more than a ₹5,000 fare with 25kg.
- Check whether the return falls on a peak Diwali day. If it does, book it early regardless.
- Look at the train. Seriously.
The train, and when it actually beats flying
Delhi to Mumbai by Rajdhani Express is around 16 hours and ₹2,500 in sleeper class, ₹4,800 in 3AC. That’s slower than a two-hour flight, obviously, but you arrive in the city centre rather than 30km out at T2, and you don’t pay for the airport transfer. During Diwali week, when flights triple and airport queues run to 90 minutes, the train stops being the consolation prize. Fourteen hours of reading versus ninety minutes of queueing, and the berth costs less than the taxi. Take the train if you have the days. Fly if you have two.
The variable that decides it isn’t price. It’s whether you can be flexible about when you travel at all. If your Diwali date is fixed by family, a wedding, a specific puja, book early and accept the risk. If it isn’t, wait, watch, and let the airlines fight over you in the last fortnight.
