Skyscanner in partnership with Family Traveller found out that more than half (52%) of families are put off booking a summer holiday because they think they are too expensive, with 44% even considering taking their kids out of school to save money.
However Skyscanner has carried out analysis of millions of flight prices booked to show that families holidaying in the peak summer holidays need not break the bank. Here are the Summer Holiday Tips
1. Travel in the last weeks of the school summer holidays rather than the first weeks
According to the survey, almost half of all the families who take a trip during the school summer holidays do so in the first two weeks of the summer break, but this is in fact the most expensive time to travel. Families who opt to fly to Portugal in the last week of the summer for instance will on average save almost 20% on flights, which is around £175 for a family of four while those heading to USA can save over £1,000 for a family, as flight prices drop by around 30%.
2. Know when to book – on average 8 weeks in advance
Almost two thirds of families book their trips more than three months in advance of travel, however recent analysis of Skyscanner booking data shows that actually the best time to book flights is in fact 8 weeks in advance of travel. This does depend on the destination though so visit our best time to book tool atwww.skyscanner.netfor further information (or tweet #besttimetobook).
3. Monitor prices
Some destinations, such as Italy, don’t follow the same pattern of price hikes at the beginning of the summer with average prices only dropping around £15pp at the end of the summer. For these destinations, the best way of getting a good fare is to keep track of the prices by setting up a price alert with Skyscanner so that you are notified when prices rise or fall on a specific route and can book when you see a good price.
4. Pick peak travel destinations wisely
Not surprisingly our survey found that a massive 86% of families feel annoyed that prices rise so much in the summer compared to off peak periods, however our analysis shows that some destinations are more guilty of doing this than others. For instance while flight prices to Spain and Italy rise by around 35-40% (June compared to last week of July), families heading to Turkey in the peak summer are likely to feel far more ripped off as average flight prices rise by a whopping 70% - representing almost £600 more a family of four has to fork out for peak summer flights.
5. Consider travelling on a week day rather than the weekend
If restricted to the first week of the summer holidays, be flexible and fly on less popular days of the week. It pays to do your research by using Skyscanner’s Month View search tool. For instance, by flying to the USA on the first Wednesday of the summer holidays instead of the first Saturday, a family of four could save £300 or save £133 by flying to Portugal on the first Friday.
