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| Airfare Huntsville, AL to Las Vegas, NV in September 2013 |
Kayak.com is
a travel site that allows users to book hotels, flights, rental cars, cruises, as
well as all inclusive vacation packages.
There have always been guidelines when it comes to travel prices in
regard to which months are best to travel.
However, Kayak recently analyzed over one billion search queries
involving airfare. Instead of a general
guide that specifies the cheapest months to travel domestic and abroad, this
analysis gives insight into specific popular destinations worldwide.
Some
interesting results show an annual increase in airfare for the “popular
destinations” except for Toronto. The
data also showed which cities were the most popular for the year, number one
being Vegas. This analysis was able to
establish a top three cheapest months for domestic travel which consist of
September, January, and October in ascending order. February and March make up the best months to
fly overseas with regard to price while January and February are the least busy
months.
Some other trends
were also prevalent in the data. Many
locations that are not typically considered “popular destinations” were
analyzed due to an increase in popularity.
Some of the most helpful results show which of these rising destinations
maintained the same ticket price and which increased. The only domestic location that both rose in
popularity and remained the same in ticket price was Nashville, Tennessee. There were also results for those locations
that have decreased in popularity yet increased in price.
Many times,
people know where they wish to travel or at least have a pretty good idea. However, this data could aid in making the
decision of where or when to go. If the
date is already set, then Kayak can help the customer find a popular
destination for a good price. If the
customer chooses to study the results, they may wish to visit Las Vegas, for
instance, due to it being ranked number one in popularity and number five in lowest
price among “popular destinations.” One
important thing to note, however, is that these results are based on search queries
rather than booked flights. These
results could be skewed by would be travelers simply being curious about the
cost of a flight to a particular popular location.
Source: http://venturebeat.com/2013/03/21/kayak-analyzes-a-billion-queries-to-uncover-secrets-behind-cheap-flights/
Source: http://venturebeat.com/2013/03/21/kayak-analyzes-a-billion-queries-to-uncover-secrets-behind-cheap-flights/
Reading this post got me thinking. When I have to go on a last minute trip and don't feel like driving, I often check the flight prices to see how much it would cost to get to where I need to be. I usually check the prices once, though, and decide if it is worth it or not to fly as opposed to driving. After reading this I started wondering, Would it be worth it for me to check the prices more than once? and Is there an optimal time to buy a plane ticket. When I searched "Airfare prices and big data' I came across this article: http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/16-07/pb_airfares.
ReplyDeleteOren Etzioni and his company, Farecast, have come up with several predictive algorithms based on fare data that identifies the factors that make airfare prices fluctuate. A few of these factors are listed below:
1. Buying tickets way in advance doesn't always save you money.
2. Holidays are the exception to the above rule.
3. 50% of price reductions disappear within two days.
4. Prices that are high compared to the past prices for the same trip will often end up dropping back down because customers aren't as dumb as the airlines think, and prices have to be cut to re-boost sales.
5. Midweek trips are often about $50 less than weekend trips.
6. Price drops often come early in the week.
7. Increased prices vary by destination (duh).
8. Waiting an extra day after holidays to return home can often save the traveler about $100.
I will definitely keep these factors in mind next time I need to book a flight!
Very good points. Kayak also has its traditional travel guide that includes some of the points you stated. It does appear that a common misconception is that buying tickets way in advance saves money. I have seen estimates that show buying tickets approximately 3 weeks in advance can be plenty of time to lockup great deals. I assume this is due to unfilled seats causing cheaper fares. This article only covered one study by Kayak. I have since seen a few more than offer valuable insight into this topic. Anyone who travels frequently, businesses included, could benefit from more research on this topic.
DeleteI usually use Priceline and Expedia to be the websites to compare price. And I got some findings that you may be interested in.
ReplyDelete1. It's better to buy domestic flight tickets before two weeks from your departure date because fourteen days before departure will be the last day to have lower price.
2. It's better to buy ticket on Monday or Tuesday. The flight ticket is not fixed, and it usually has trend. As my personal experience, Monday and Tuesday will have the lowest price that you can have. Lets use Atlanta to Los angeles as our example. if you follow my advice, the lowest price you can get is around $300 for the non-stop round trip. After Tuesday, the price will go up to $350 up.
3. The price of booking a hotel is usually fixed. However, if you wanna go to Las Vegas, it's better not to book the hotel in some specific dates such as Thanksgiving or Christmas. The price can be from $50 to $500.
This post will be very useful to us....i like your blog and helpful to me....nice thoughts for your great work....
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