Time Zone Converter

Coordinate flights, hotel check-ins, and calls home without the mental maths. Pick your base city and compare times across up to six destinations instantly.

How to Use the Time Zone Converter

Keeping track of times across borders is a headache, especially when you are coordinating flights, hotel check-ins, or calls to family back home. To use this tool, select your current location (or the city you are flying out of) as the base city. Choose the exact date and time you want to check, and then add up to six destination cities.

The converter calculates the exact local time in your target cities. It automatically accounts for Daylight Saving Time (DST) shifts. If you are checking a flight for next August, the tool applies the correct summer time rules for that specific day.

Why Time Zones Catch Travellers Out

Time zones are rarely as straightforward as they look on a map. While the UK switches to British Summer Time (BST) in late March, Australia’s daylight saving changes happen in April and October—and only in certain states. If you are comparing times between London and Sydney, the gap shifts from 9 hours in the northern summer to 11 hours in the northern winter.

Some destinations also operate on fractional time zones. If you are travelling to Adelaide, the local time (ACST) is offset by a half-hour. Delhi operates on India Standard Time (IST), which is UTC+5:30, meaning a simple hour-by-hour calculation will leave you 30 minutes late for your airport transfer.

Finding the Best Time to Call

When you are halfway across the world, finding a decent time to call your bank or check in with family requires mental gymnastics. The tool includes a “Best time to call” indicator to solve this. It highlights green when the time in your base city and your target city both fall between 08:00 and 21:00.

For example, if you are in Los Angeles and need to call a hotel in Tokyo, the overlap is notoriously narrow. Tokyo is 17 hours ahead of Los Angeles (depending on the time of year). A 16:00 call from California means you are ringing Tokyo at 09:00 the following morning—a safe window before the business day gets too busy.

Managing the International Date Line

Crossing the Pacific Ocean means dealing with the International Date Line, which can wreak havoc on hotel bookings. If you board a 14-hour flight from San Francisco to Auckland on a Tuesday night, you will land on Thursday morning. The tool displays a “+1 Day” or “-1 Day” tag next to the date so you know exactly which calendar day you are dealing with. Always double-check this tag before paying for non-refundable accommodation.