Easy hacks: 47% Indians willing to alter travel plans for bargain deals

Seventy five per cent of Indian travellers are willing to increase their travel budget to experience live cricket matches. With the upcoming 2023 Cricket World Cup held in India, there is already a 46 per cent  spike in searches from within India to Ahmedabad, one of the host cities, for October this year, revealed a survey by Skyscanner, a global travel marketplace.

However, despite the strong demand, prices on Skyscanner reveal that flights to Ahmedabad from Mumbai are 36 per cent lower for une 2023, compared to  the same period last year.

Data from the 'Travel in focus' report highlights that Indians are savvy travellers (47 per cent) who are flexible to switch their itineraries, when presented with better travel deals. 

When it comes to international holidays, Indians are also willing to pick a destination that is less expensive to travel to (35 per cent) or travel at a different time of year (33 per cent). This is in spite of the fact that Indian travellers are in fact, big planners, with 72 per cent of respondents preferring to thoroughly plan their trips.

 In 2023,46 per cent of Indian travellers opted for more immersive travel over of fast-paced travel (40 per cent). Rather than visiting as many places as possible, travellers are looking to spend more time in a single destination, taking their time to immerse themselves in the local culture.

 According to Skyscanner data, over 38 per cent  of Indian travellers spend longer than one month on a single-destination trip, including domestic and international destinations, which is significantly more when compared to travellers in Singapore (3%) and South Korea (8%).

Over half of Indians (55%) are planning purpose-related travel in India to engage in activities such as scuba diving, golf, yoga, or wellness retreats. One in two Indians is also actively planning a visit to holy places in the next 6 months. 

Internationally, UAE, Thailand and Indonesia are most preferred holiday destinations for Indians. 

 Skyscanner recommends the following hacks to help travellers bag a bargain quickly: 

‘Whole Month’ search tool allows you to see cheap flights immediately and pick the right deal for you. Consider travelling a day before or a day after your original departure dates, flying on less popular days of the week is always cheaper. 

 Mix & Match to save: Mixing and matching the airlines and airports you choose to fly with to and fro, can seriously cut costs. To save more, flights don’t have to be booked as returns.  For instance, for travellers flying out of Mumbai to UAE from 8-15 September 2023, it is 35% cheaper to book a flight to Dubai (DXB) instead of Sharjah (SHJ). However, when returning to Mumbai, flying out of Sharjah (SHJ) is  7% cheaper than Dubai (DXB).

Be Price Smart: When you find a flight you like, with a price you don’t, set up a  Price Alert. It will watch the flight you are interested in and send an email or push notification when prices change. This is the best way to find a deal if you have a few weeks or months before you are planning to buy.  

Everywhere search tool: Another easy hack is to use the ‘Everywhere’ search tool, where destinations are recommended based on the traveller’s location, ranked by price. That way you get to explore, without breaking the bank.

Skyscanner’s Travel in Focus 2023 report draws on its research with OnePoll and analyses survey data from 3,000 travellers in Singapore, India, and South Korea.