Procrastinators Rejoice! Skyscanner Reveals the Best Time to Book 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

MIAMI–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Skyscanner, the global travel search engine, announces today its highly
anticipated best time to book predictions for the year, and it’s all
about last minute travel. The results, based on historical data compiled
from Skyscanner’s more than 50 million users, show that the highest
savings are available no more than four weeks prior to Thanksgiving,
Christmas and New Year’s, with potential savings even available to those
booking flights the very 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: Skyscanner found that October has the best
  opportunities for savings, with the week of October 17 offering
  savings of 5.10 percent and a mere four weeks out, the week of October
  31, offering the highest potential savings of 7.7 percent. Last minute
  bookers will also be in luck and could find 1.98 percent in savings
  the week of Thanksgiving.
• Christmas: Historical data indicates that Thanksgiving week
  (November 21) will be a prime time for the best deals, offerings
  possible savings of 6.41 percent, as well as the week of December 5
  with savings of 4.93 percent. After Thanksgiving will also be a peak
  window for booking, with savings of 2.17 percent the week of November
  28.
• New Year’s: While travelers could score the highest savings of
  10.57 percent the week of December 5, the holiday looks to favor last
  minute decision-makers with 6.72 percent of savings one week before
  and 6.67 percent of savings two weeks out.

Perhaps even more revealing is the fact that travelers already have
quite a propensity towards procrastination when it comes to booking
holiday travel. Skyscanner carried out a survey on Twitter and the
results speak for themselves; while 44 percent shared that their plans
are made six months to one year in advance, and 17 percent between three
to five months out, 39 percent of respondents said they prefer to book
their travel four to six weeks ahead.

Since the end-of-year holidays are a peak travel season, Skyscanner’s
creative and unique algorithms offer tools to facilitate the booking
process and help travelers expand their search criteria and consider
different flight options for 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 notifications when the
  price drops.
• Connectivity: Skyscanner data shows that 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
  determine 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 our 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.

Contacts

Skyscanner
Randi Wolfson
Randi.Wolfson@skyscanner.com
or
Cohen
PR
Dana Cohen, 561-506-6861
dana@cohen-pr.com