If you’re planning on booking a trip in the next few weeks, it might just be worth putting off your plans until January. At least that’s the conclusion from flight comparison site, Skyscanner who say the first two weeks of the new year is the best time to bag an airfare bargain.
Having crunched the numbers from the site’s 60 million monthly users, Skyscanner has concluded that early January offers the cheapest flight deals for travel in the first half of 2018. The data is focused on flights originating in the USA but expect similar deals wherever you’re based in the world.
So how much can you expect to save? For international flights, you might be able to save up to 36% on the yearly average and domestic flights are typically 16% lower than average. But don’t put off booking your ticket too long – By March, airfares can go up by 56% and 13% respectively.
And if you’re still deciding where to go, Skyscanner also has some useful data on what destinations are proving most popular in 2018. Unsurprisingly, Europe is performing strongly with travellers showing a lot of interest in flying to Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Madrid and Paris.
Further afield, the island of Phuket, Thailand has also seen a surge in demand.
Trending cities that are increasingly getting the love of U.S. travellers include the European cities of Hamburg, Lyon, Bologna, as well as Casablanca in North Africa.
The data builds on research from Allianz Global Assistance’s Top 10 Holiday Destination Report. That found that the City of Lights, Paris will likely see a more than 16% increase in U.S.travellers over the Holiday period. It follows a near 13% fall in tourists last year to the French capital following a series of terrorist attacks.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, therefore, both London and Manchester in the UK will see significant drops in international visitors in the next few weeks. London, however, will retain its position as the most visited European destination for U.S. travellers despite the shadow of terrorism falling over the city this year.
Allianz concluded that the Top Five most visited European destinations over the Christmas period will be:
- London
- Paris
- Rome
- Frankfurt
- Amsterdam
“We’re pleased to see that Americans’ confidence in European travel, particularly to Paris, is returning this holiday season,” commented Daniel Durazo, director of communications at Allianz Global Assistance USA.
“While world events including terrorism continue to impact travellers’ interest in travelling to the United Kingdom, London remains the top holiday travel destination, and many other cities like Rome, Reykjavik and Athens are enjoying nice gains in popularity this year.”
