Washington → Budapest flights

Most fares cluster at $245 — a handful of outliers hit $382

Key takeaways

• $245 was the price on the large majority of days sampled — it's both the median and the 25th-75th percentile floor.
• $382 high appears to be an outlier day rather than a typical ceiling, given how tightly the rest of the data clusters.
• 56% spread between low and high looks large, but it's driven by a single spike, not steady volatility.
• Only 9 snapshots were collected — too thin to confidently map day-of-week or booking-window patterns.
• No dominant carrier was visible in the data, so airline-specific pricing behavior can't be confirmed.

30-day price trend

See full numbers and stats on the DCA → BUD price history page.

The full picture

The data for this route shows a striking pattern: $245 wasn't just the median fare, it was also the 25th and 75th percentile value, meaning most of the 9 sampled days landed on exactly that price. The $382 high stands apart as a clear outlier rather than part of a gradual range, which is why the 56% spread figure can be misleading — it reflects one anomalous data point more than genuine day-to-day volatility.

With only 9 snapshots collected, we don't have enough coverage to responsibly describe how prices move across the booking horizon — whether fares soften closer to departure or rise, or whether there's a sweet spot window, simply isn't something this sample can support. What we can say is that $245 has been the prevailing price point far more often than not, so travelers watching this route should treat that figure as a realistic target and treat anything meaningfully above it as a sign to wait or keep checking.

No dominant carrier emerged clearly from the data, so we can't attribute the $382 spike to a specific airline's pricing strategy or a known fare-engine pattern — it may simply reflect a single high-demand snapshot day. The honest caveat here is real: with a 9-day sample and one clear outlier skewing the spread statistic, this read should be treated as a rough directional signal rather than a confident seasonal or weekly pattern. More snapshots over a longer window would meaningfully sharpen this picture.

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