As air travel continues to recover post-lockdown, a new report has revealed tips on how to save money and avoid disruptions.
Although many Australians have likely organised their Christmas and summer holiday travel plans, online travel agency Expedia has released its 2023 Air Travel Hacks Report, in collaboration with Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC).
The report analysed this year’s travel trends to provide tips on how to save time and money.
“While it has been a volatile recovery, our data indicates travel is beginning to normalise, with travellers taking advantage of flying again,” said Chuck Thackston, managing director of data science and research at ARC.
If you’ve yet to plan your end-of-year getaway, or are looking ahead to future holidays, read on to find out how you can make travelling easier on yourself and your wallet.
Choose travel dates strategically
Although you can start your holiday any day you like – as long as you’ve got to your boss before your co-workers – the day you choose to start your trip can make a big difference in how much you end up forking out.
The report finds Saturday is the cheapest day to fly domestic, while Monday is the most expensive, with a price difference of up to 20 per cent.
Similarly, travellers who choose Friday to fly internationally spend an average of 10 per cent less than those who head overseas on a Sunday.
Tony Webber, Airline Intelligence & Research CEO and former Qantas chief economist, told The New Daily while it’s hard to explain differences in international airfares, the fluctuating costs of domestic flights are linked with work commutes and long weekends.
“When you’ve got commuter air traffic, there might be people who are living in location A and commute to location B by air to go to work,” Dr Webber said.
“They’ll get there on a Monday and come back on the Friday. So you’ll often see Monday morning peaks and Friday afternoon peaks.
“On the leisure side, you often get people who have a long weekend, and so they’ll travel on a Friday and try and get back on a Monday to work on Tuesday.”
Book ahead
Apart from picking your date of travel wisely and avoiding peak holiday and sport event periods, Dr Webber said the best way to save on airfares is to book a long way in advance.
Expedia’s report shows booking at least three months before domestic flights can save travellers an average of 30 per cent on airfares, compared with those who wait between 30 days up to the day of travel to book.
For international flights, those who book six months in advance save an average of 25 per cent compared to travellers who waited until three months out or less to book.
Disruption-prone months and times
The report found travellers after a smooth experience should aim for daytime flights between 9am and 3pm.
Data shows flights that depart between 3pm and 9pm are the most likely to be cancelled, with a 30 per cent higher chance, on average, than those that depart at midday.
Avoiding peak travel peak periods can also do wonders in keeping to your schedule as well as your budget.
Based on 2022 trends, flight cancellations are most likely in January and least likely around February and March.
Dr Webber said this is because January tends to see more extreme weather events that can affect flights, such as storms, while February marks the seasonal off-peak as school holidays end.
Expedia report also found flight delays have also historically been shorter in February than June, when the northern hemisphere summer rush begins.
Delays begin to shorten in August, making spring a good time to travel by air.
End of travel drama in sight
Airports and airlines have endured a bumpy ride as their return to operations have been marred by chaotic security queues extending outside of terminals during peak travel periods.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has also found the domestic airline industry reported the worst on-time performance on record in July, along with cancellation rates more than three times the long-term average.
Meanwhile, international airfares are skyrocketing.
But in some good news, Expedia’s report shows airlines have steadily improved their services in recent months.
Total flight cancellations dropped from more than 9 per cent in July to about 3 per cent in August, and the trend is expected to continue, meaning travellers should expect significantly reduced risk of flight disruptions in 2023.
Dr Webber said the reduced disruptions come as the world learns to live with COVID-19.
“As we get better at living with COVID, and dealing with the illness, then we will get the aviation industry service levels improved, because you’ll have fewer people deciding to stay at home,” he said.
