Best Time to Call Abroad from the US: Overlaps and DST Shifts

"Call Europe in the morning, Asia in the evening" is fine as far as it goes. It breaks down the week your standing Monday call with London suddenly lands an hour early, or when you're on the West Coast and the morning window barely exists. Below, the offsets and this year's clock-change dates are turned into plain calling windows.

Throughout, "business hours" means nine to five at the other end. Adjust if your contact keeps different hours.

Start with your own offset

Eastern time is UTC-5 in winter and UTC-4 during daylight saving time. Pacific time is UTC-8 and UTC-7. Central and Mountain callers fall in between.

Federal law sets the US switch: 2 AM on the second Sunday of March, back at 2 AM on the first Sunday of November. In 2026 that's March 8 to November 1.

Not everyone moves. Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Arizona (apart from the Navajo Indian Reservation) skip daylight saving time. The law lets a state that sits entirely in one time zone opt out. Calling from Phoenix or Honolulu? Your gap to the rest of the world stays put while the other side changes, so check your own clock before trusting any table.

UK and Europe: aim for the East Coast morning

The UK runs on UTC in winter and UTC+1 in summer. Most of the year that puts London five hours ahead of New York and eight ahead of Los Angeles.

In practice, a London office open 9 to 5 is reachable from 9 AM to noon Eastern. By noon in New York, it's 5 PM in London. From the West Coast, London closes at 9 AM Pacific, so you're calling at 8 AM or earlier.

Germany and France are an hour further on: UTC+1 in winter, UTC+2 in summer. Berlin's 5 PM is 11 AM Eastern and 8 AM Pacific, which leaves New York a two-hour window and Los Angeles almost nothing inside normal hours. Most of the EU keeps the same clock as Berlin. Central European Time covers 17 member states, while Ireland and Portugal use Western European Time and eight eastern members, including Finland and Greece, use Eastern European Time. A Dublin contact and a Helsinki contact don't share a clock, so ask which city they're in.

Dialing details are on our how to call the UK and how to call Germany pages.

The weeks the gap shrinks

Europe and the US don't change clocks on the same day. The UK goes forward at 1 AM on the last Sunday in March and back at 2 AM on the last Sunday in October. EU member states switch on those same Sundays. The US moves earlier in spring and later in fall.

For 2026, that leaves two mismatch periods:

• March 8 to March 29. The US has sprung forward and the UK hasn't yet. London is four hours ahead of Eastern, Berlin five.

• October 25 to November 1. The UK is back on Greenwich Mean Time while the US is still on daylight time. Same result: four hours to London, five to Berlin.

During those weeks your 10 AM Eastern call reaches London at 2 PM instead of 3 PM. The window from New York actually gets longer, running to 1 PM. Recurring invites are where it goes wrong. If a meeting was booked in one city's time zone, it moves by an hour for everyone else. Confirm the time in both cities in writing before each call that week.

India, China and Japan: only the US side moves

The ITU's list of national dialing procedures gives India an offset of UTC+5:30, China UTC+8 and Japan UTC+9, with no daylight saving value for any of them. So the gap changes twice a year, but only because the US changes.

India

India is 10 hours 30 minutes ahead of Eastern in winter and 9 hours 30 minutes ahead in summer. Forget the half hour and you'll be early or late by thirty minutes. The Indian workday starts at 10:30 PM Eastern the night before in winter, and ends at 6:30 AM Eastern. Your realistic options are a late-night call or an early start before 7:30 AM in summer. West Coast callers have it easier: India's 9 AM is 7:30 PM Pacific in winter and 8:30 PM in summer. See how to call India for the dialing sequence.

China

Beijing is 13 hours ahead of Eastern in winter and 12 in summer. Its 9 AM start is 8 PM Eastern (winter) or 9 PM (summer) the previous evening. From the Pacific coast it's 5 PM or 6 PM, right as your own day wraps up. More on China.

Japan

Tokyo is 14 hours ahead of Eastern in winter and 13 in summer. That makes Japan the easiest Asian call from Los Angeles. Tokyo's 9 AM is 4 PM Pacific in winter and 5 PM in summer, so a late-afternoon call from the office works. From New York it's 7 PM or 8 PM. Country details: Japan.

Australia: opposite seasons, and not every state

The ITU lists Australia at UTC+10, and UTC+11 under daylight saving. Its seasons run the other way. In New South Wales, daylight saving starts on Sunday, October 4, 2026, and ends on Sunday, April 4, 2027. Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory don't observe it at all. New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT do.

For Sydney, the gap to Eastern time moves through three settings over a year:

• Australian winter, US summer (April to early October): 14 hours. Sydney's 9 AM is 7 PM Eastern and 4 PM Pacific.

• October 4 to November 1, 2026 (and again from the second Sunday of March until Sydney's clocks go back, which in 2027 means March 14 to April 4): both sides on daylight time, 15 hours. Sydney's 9 AM is 6 PM Eastern and 3 PM Pacific.

• November 1 until the spring clock changes: 16 hours. Sydney's 9 AM is 5 PM Eastern and 2 PM Pacific the day before.

West Coast afternoons line up best. For the dialing format, see how to call Australia.

Overlap windows at a glance

These assume a 9-to-5 day at the destination and standard (winter) time on both sides unless noted.

In US summer, shift the India, Beijing and Tokyo rows one hour later on your clock. Sydney's other settings are listed above. For any single call, a live check on our world time zones page beats memory.

FAQ

What time should I call the UK from the East Coast?

Between 9 AM and noon Eastern reaches a UK office before 5 PM local most of the year. In 2026, from March 8 to 29 and from October 25 to November 1, London is only four hours ahead, so you have until 1 PM.

Why is the time difference with Europe different in late October?

The UK and the EU go back on the last Sunday in October, while the US waits until the first Sunday in November. This year that's October 25 versus November 1.

What is the best time to call India from the US?

From the East Coast, early morning (India's late afternoon) or late evening (India's morning). India is 9 hours 30 minutes ahead of Eastern daylight time and 10 hours 30 minutes ahead of Eastern standard time. From the West Coast, early evening Pacific lines up with India's morning.

Is Australia ahead of or behind the US, and by how much?

Ahead. Sydney runs 14 to 16 hours ahead of Eastern and 17 to 19 ahead of Pacific, depending on which side is on daylight saving time. Brisbane doesn't change clocks.

Does the time difference with China or Japan change during the year?

Yes, but only because US clocks change. The ITU lists China at UTC+8 and Japan at UTC+9 with no daylight saving value.

Sources

1. National Institute of Standards and Technology: How is UTC(NIST) related to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)...? (accessed 2026-09-24)
2. National Institute of Standards and Technology: Local Time FAQs (accessed 2026-09-24)
3. Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives: 15 U.S.C. 260a: Advancement of time or changeover dates (accessed 2026-09-24)
4. National Institute of Standards and Technology: Daylight Saving Time (DST) (accessed 2026-09-24)
5. International Telecommunication Union: Dialling procedures (international prefix, national (trunk) prefix and national (significant) number), annex to ITU Operational Bulletin No. 994 (position on 15 December 2011) (accessed 2026-09-24)
6. European Commission, Mobility and Transport: Summertime (accessed 2026-09-24)
7. GOV.UK: When do the clocks change? (accessed 2026-09-24)
8. NSW Government: Daylight saving (accessed 2026-09-24)