Last updated on September 3rd, 2017 at 05:00 pm
Procrastinators rejoice! Skyscanner reveals the best time for holiday travel … and it's later than you think!
Global travel search engine uncovers that booking holiday travel four weeks out can lead to the best savings
Skyscanner, the global travel search engine, reports the best time to book holiday travel is at the last minute. This stems from historical data compiled from more than 50 million Skyscanner users showing the highest savings occur no more than four weeks before Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, with potential savings even available to those booking flights the same week.
“Americans left a record-breaking 658 million unused vacation days on the table last year alone, and we are committed to making travel more attainable, especially around the holidays,” said Randi Wolfson, Head of Communications for the Americas, Skyscanner. “We prepare this data in the hopes of helping travelers see that holiday travel is something they can budget for and plan with ease so they can spend their well-earned time off with loved ones.”
Skyscanner analyzed collated, historical data on users’ booking and travel habits during the peak dates of travel for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. Based on findings from 2015, Skyscanner compiled the results for the best time to book travel for possible savings, around each of the major holidays coming up this year:
- Thanksgiving: October has the best opportunities for savings, with the week of October 17th offering savings of 5.10 percent four weeks out and the week of October 31st, offering the highest potential savings of 7.7 percent. Last minute bookers could find 1.98 percent in savings the week of Thanksgiving.
- Christmas: Thanksgiving week (November 21) is the prime time for the best deals, offerings possible savings of 6.41 percent. After Thanksgiving will also be a peak window for booking, with savings of 2.17 percent the week of November 28. The week of December 5th is another window for booking savings of 4.93 percent.
- New Year’s: While travelers could score the highest savings of 10.57 percent the week of December 5, last minute decision-makers could discover 6.72 percent of savings one week before and 6.67 percent of savings two weeks out.
Travelers already have an inclination towards procrastination when it comes to booking holiday travel. A survey on Twitter reveals 44 percent of travelers made bookings six months to one year in advance. 17 percent of travelers did so three to five months out, with 39 percent of respondents booking travel four to six weeks in advance.
Since the end-of-year holidays are a peak travel season, Skyscanner’s creative and unique algorithms offer tools to ease booking and help travelers expand their searches and consider different flights any time of year.
- Accessibility: For travelers without a specific destination in mind, Skyscanner’s Everywhere search tool shows top flight deals for domestic and international destinations.
- Affordability: Setting up price alerts allows travelers to track the cost of travel to a specific destination or a particular route and receive notices when the price drops.
- Connectivity: Data shows self-connections are on the rise, with the average percentage of users choosing to build their own itineraries over taking a flight route with a single carrier.
- Flexibility: Flying at less popular hours of the day and in or out of nearby airports can help lower costs, but so can adjusting travel dates. Skyscanner offers a Show Whole Month search tool so users can glance at the entire month to find out the best dates by price.
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About Skyscanner
Skyscanner is a leading global travel search company providing free search of flights, hotels and car rental. Founded in 2003 Skyscanner helps to meet the travel planning needs of over 50 million people each month. Skyscanner is available in over 30 languages. Skyscanner’s highly-rated free mobile app has been downloaded over 40 million times. The privately-owned company employs over 800 staff and has ten global offices in Edinburgh, Singapore, Beijing, Shenzhen, Miami, Barcelona, Glasgow, Sofia and Budapest. For more information, please visit http://www.skyscanner.com and their blog.
Methodology:
- Skyscanner holiday travel data is based on 2015 search and exits during 2015 holiday dates on Skyscanner.com. US to US round-trip travel for one-adult ticket were analyzed.
Media Contacts:
Skyscanner
Randi Wolfson
Randi.Wolfson@skyscanner.com
or
Cohen PR
Dana Cohen, 561-506-6861
dana@cohen-pr.com
This posting is an excerpt of a Skyscanner.com press release. For more information see: http://www.skyscanner.com.
