How can you save money this end of year period by planning your trip? Ideally, how long before departure is best to travel? Is favoring last minute reservations to benefit from good deals recommended? THE Liligo search engine studied the prices of the destinations most popular with the French depends on reservation date.
In the study conducted last December with OpinionWay(*) on the anticipation of French travel in 2023, the majority of respondents (40%) planned to book their trips 1 to 3 months in advance. This explains the increase in the percentage of searches 3 months before going on vacation, but is it a good idea?
In the preconceived ideas that exist around travel, anticipating the purchase of plane tickets can allow you to save money. In fact, eight destinations out of 11 studied are less expensive if the purchase is made six months in advance. Among them: Lisbon, London, Porto, Istanbul, Rome and even New York. The latter, often very sought after at Christmas time, is available at €574 for a round trip for one person six months before the departure date. 628€ if you book three months in advance and 664€ just one month before. We observe an increase of +16% compared to a reservation made six months before. As for Lisbon, the price of a ticket booked one month before the departure date is 78% more expensive than a reservation six months in advance.
This is also the case for Saint-Denis de la Réunion and Bangkok, whose prices are cheaper if the reservation is made six months before the departure date compared to one month before. The price of the plane ticket is 5% more expensive one month before compared to six months and for Bangkok, the price increase even goes up to 15%. However, these same destinations are more expensive three months before versus one month before departure. If the decision to travel to these destinations is made 3 months in advance, the ticket will be 1% more expensive to Bangkok and 6% to Saint-Denis de la Réunion.
Montreal and Marrakech, more accessible at the last minute
If the idea of booking your plane ticket well in advance to get it cheaper is true for the majority of the destinations most popular with the French, this is not the case for Montreal and Marrakech. These two destinations, also very coveted at the end of the year, have lower prices and booking at the last minute (one month before vs. six months) allows a saving of 14% for Montreal (€579 vs. €672) and 17% for Marrakech (256€ vs. 310€).
(*)OpinionWay survey for Liligo carried out from December 20 to 21, 2022 on a sample of 1,089 people representative of the French population aged 18 and over.
