Plan to travel? book 24 weeks ahead

Skyscanner’s survey finds that 72% Indians do not know the best time to book travel

HYDERABAD: Global travel search engine announced the top destinations for Indians to look out for in 2017 .

Now, it has  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 don’t know the when is the best time to book their travel. 

A survey by the travel search engine has revealed that 72% of Indian travellers do not know the best time to book travel for their holidays. While a meaty 31% of respondents correctly assume booking more than 12 weeks in advance is the best time book flights. 

Additionally, 11% 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.

Some of the interesting findings of the survey are

•   April is the best month to visit Bali as the travellers can save upto 10% on flight prices and the best time to book is 25 weeks prior to departure.
•    The best month to visit Kuala Lumpur is September as the travellers can save a whopping 18% on average fares and the best time to book is 25 weeks in advance.
•    Travelers can avail 17% saving on fares to Amsterdam when they book 24 weeks in advance. The ideal month to visit Amsterdam is February as travellers can avail 8% on tickets.
•    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% on the flight ticket.
•   To explore Madrid, a European favourite,November is the best month, as one can avail 17% less than average fare. 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 8% and 9%, respectively, on tickets. Skyscanner recommends April for a visit to Bali, where they can save up to 10% on flight prices, and September as the perfect month to book for Kuala Lumpur where travellers can save a whopping 18% on average fares. A European favourite, Madrid will be best enjoyed in November where one can avail 17% less than the average fare. 
•    Skyscanner notes that Madrid races ahead in terms of popularity with 164% searches more than the average. Coming close on its heels is Budapest with 150% searches in popularity followed by Amsterdam, Kuala Lumpur and Bali which receive 88%, 55% and 47% searches in popularity. 
•   Commenting on the analysis, Reshmi Roy, Growth Manager, Skyscanner India said, “Knowing the best time to book flights is key to getting a good deal, so it’s surprising that nearly three-quarters of Indian travellers don’t know when the best time to book travel is and 69% are way off in their estimations, guessing the best deals on flights can be found less than 12 weeks before departure. Furthermore, the majority of travellers are overspending by leaving booking until the last minute! 
•   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.”