While the adage “the earlier, the better” holds true in other situations, travel booking site Expedia recently busted that myth when it comes to booking flights.
Expedia’s expert travel tip—to book seven to 13 days before the flight date—can apparently result in up to 30 percent savings.
If you think it’s too late to plan a Christmas or end-of-the-year vacation, think again. While airfare prices are known to skyrocket during this favoured travel season, booking site Expedia shared a few little-known industry tips in a statement it released at the end of October.
Booking airfare
While most of us believe that we must book flights as early as possible to get the best prices, Expedia revealed that this is a fallacy.
“When it comes to booking flights, common sense typically calls for planning ahead in order to get the best deals. But the sweet spot for flights can vary, with seasonality, travel dates and other factors that could influence flight prices,” said Lavinia Rajaram, Brand Expedia’s APAC head of communications.
Based on historical data from its site, Expedia noted that the worst time to book your flight is actually 61 to 90 days in advance.
Surprisingly, the best time to book your flight is seven to 13 days before the date, which can yield up to 30 percent savings.
Booking accommodation
Expedia also shared its insights into the best time for booking hotels and other accommodation.
Book your hotel room on the day itself or up to six days before your check-in date, says Expedia, explaining that these almost last-minute dates can result in 30 percent lower rates.
As to the worst time to book accommodation—91 days or more in advance will likely yield much higher prices.
Singaporeans’ year-end travel habits
Singaporeans love to travel, and Expedia’s data shows that they’re heading for colder climes to escape the constant heat and humidity of the home.
Pulling on Singaporean customers’ flight and accommodation data for the period of December 15, 2019 to January 14, 2020, the top favourites for year-end travels are Tokyo, London, Seoul, Taipei and Bangkok.
Not only are Singaporeans seeking colder weather, but they’ve also been going on more long-haul flights to the likes of London, Paris, Barcelona and Los Angeles during the year-end travel season. Those destinations have enjoyed year-on-year growth rates of over 60 percent in-flight demand.
Destinations that are cheaper in 2019
In its statement, Expedia also noted that flight rates to and accommodations in the following destinations are cheaper this year compared to 2018:
- Vancouver—flights up to 20 percent cheaper, hotels up to 29 percent cheaper
- Shanghai—flights up to 26 percent cheaper, hotels up to 9 percent cheaper
- New York—fights up to 28 percent cheaper, hotels up to 6 percent cheaper
- Los Angeles—flights up to 17 percent cheaper, hotels up to 7 percent cheaper
- Paris—flights up to 7 percent cheaper, hotels up to 15 percent cheaper
If you follow Expedia’s expert trick, there’s still loads of time to book an amazing Christmas or year-end vacation. /TISG