Fly high with better deals

Last December, Skyscanner announced the top destinations for Indians to look out for in 2017. Now, Skyscanner has crunched two years’ worth of data from over 50 million monthly users to reveal the Best Time to Book (BTTB) travel to these hot spots after uncovering nearly three quarters of Indian travellers who don’t know when is the best time to book their travel.

A survey by Skyscanner revealed that 72 per cent of Indian travellers do not know the best time to book travel for their holidays. While a meaty 31 per cent of respondents correctly assume booking more than 12 weeks in advance is the best time to book flights, 11 per cent feel that booking last minute is the key to getting a good deal. Skyscanner’s data analysis shows booking 24 weeks prior to departure is the ideal time to book tickets.
Bookings for Bali and Kuala Lumpur are best secured 25 weeks prior to departure.

However, Skyscanner notes that both destinations receive the most bookings two weeks prior to departure where flight prices witness a surge of 16 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively, compared to the average fare from across India. Travellers with sights set on Europe can avail 17 per cent saving on fares to Amsterdam when they book 24 weeks in advance.

For those who aren’t super planners, Budapest offers flexible weeks to travellers in terms of getting the optimum flight fares, where one can book 12, 20 or 23 weeks prior to departure and still save 13 per cent on the flight ticket. To explore Madrid without breaking the bank, Skyscanner recommends the best time to book is 15 weeks in advance.

BTTB also indicates the best month to travel to 2017’s trending destinations, which gives the most cost efficient fares. September and December are the best month to travel, overall. Although February is the ideal month to visit Amsterdam and Budapest as travellers can avail savings of eightr per cent and nine per cent, respectively, on tickets.

Skyscanner recommends April for a visit to Bali, where they can save up to 10 per cent on flight prices and September as the perfect month to book for Kuala Lumpur where travellers can save 18 per cent on average fares. A European favourite, Madrid will be best enjoyed in November where one can avail 17 per cent less than the average fare.

Skyscanner notes that Madrid races ahead in terms of popularity with 164 per cent searches more than the average. Coming close on its heels is Budapest with 150 per cent searches in popularity followed by Amsterdam, Kuala Lumpur and Bali which receive 88 per cent, 55 per cent and 47 per cent searches in popularity respectively.

Commenting on the analysis, Reshmi Roy, Growth Manager, Skyscanner India said, “Best Time to Book solves this problem for travellers. After reviewing flight prices from the last two years, travellers can clearly see the savings they can make by booking at the right time and what to expect if they leave booking to the last minute."