The 2019 Travel Pricing Outlook 1 report, drawing on sophisticated analysis of the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) global air and Expedia Group’s lodging-trend data, reveals timing matters when it comes to unlocking travel savings.

The report reveals how travellers can gain real value for money by being strategic about not only when they book a flight, but when they start their journey.

It also reveals trends savvy Malaysian travellers can use to pay less for seats in the “pointy end” of a plane.

Source: Flying Magazine

Time-based travel saving tips for Malaysian travellers include:

1. Book three weeks in advance for your best savings.
2. Book Economy and Premium/Business seats on a Sunday for savings up to 20%.
3. Save more than 10% on Economy seats when you start your journey on a Thursday.
4. Save up to 5% on Premium/Business seats when you start your journey on a Friday.
5. Add a Saturday night to your mid-week trip starting from Wednesday, to save more than 10% on airfares, sometimes more for popular business destinations.

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Chuck Thackston, Managing Director of Data Science at ARC says that for around three-quarters of trips, quantifiable savings can be accessed by travellers who extend their weekday trip to include a Saturday night stay.

“The savings opportunities quantified by extending mid-week travel over a weekend is a new and valuable finding for travellers.

“The industry has talked about bleisure (business + leisure) for a while now, but we have been able to actually quantify real savings for travellers around this concept.

“It’s something that people who love travel should really start to incorporate into their travel plans.”

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James Marshall, Vice President for Transport Partner Services Asia Pacific, Expedia Group explained:

“Expedia is constantly looking for ways to improve the experience of booking travel. Finding patterns in data is at the core of what we do.

“Our algorithms use data science to analyse approximately 19 quadrillion potential flight itineraries and filter them to display the most relevant options for each journey.

“When it comes to saving on flights, booking early and taking advantage of the other unique ways to save on Expedia, will help people go places for less.”

Drawing from Expedia Group’s inventory of more than 1 million properties offered, Malaysians can consider to bundle their flight and hotel bookings through Expedia.com.my, which can result in better hotel savings.