13 Sep 2017
Skyscanner unveils October Half Term Flight Trends
As the memories of the Summer holidays start to fade, September is a key time for travellers looking to book the next family trip away with typically 24%² of all October half term flight bookings taking place this month, according to Skyscanner.net. With this in mind, the global travel search engine has taken a look at the hottest destinations to see which ones came up trumps on shedding the most pounds off their price and offering the best value this October half term.
Prague is leading the way with a 20%¹ drop in average flight price for October half term (compared to October half term 2016 to October half term 2017 - £116.58 down to £93.63)¹, closely followed by Reykjavik which has seen a 15%¹ price drop on average fight bookings.
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Destination's Dropping the £'s for 2017 October Half Term¹ |
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|
|
2017 Price |
2016 Price |
% change |
Late Deal |
|
1 |
Prague |
£93.63 |
£116.58 |
-20 |
Return flights for £70 per person, departing London Stansted on 23rd October, returning on 27th October Flight details here. |
|
2 |
Reykjavik |
£202.65 |
£239.50 |
-15 |
Return flights £162 per person departing London Gatwick on 21st October, returning on 25th October Flight details here. |
|
3 |
Faro |
£177.58 |
£209.68 |
-15 |
Return flight £166 per person, departing Manchester on 23rd October, returning on 29th October. Flight details here |
|
4 |
Alicante |
£157.71 |
£181.31 |
-13 |
Return flight £133 per person, departing London Stansted on 23rd October, returning on 27th October. Flight details here |
|
5 |
Rome |
£144.02 |
£157.23 |
-8 |
Return flight £113 per person, departing London Gatwick on 21st October, returning on 25th October to London Stansted. Flight details here |
|
6 |
Malaga |
£164.85 |
£179.09 |
-8 |
Return flight £114 per person, departing London Stansted on 23rd October, returning on 27th October. Flight details here |
|
7 |
Barcelona |
£122.05 |
£132.00 |
-8 |
Return flight £70 per person, departing London Stansted on 23rd October, returning on 27th October. Flight details here. |
|
8 |
Tenerife |
£346.67 |
£369.03 |
-6 |
Return flight £263 per person, departing London Gatwick on 24th October, returning on 29th October. Flight details here |
|
9 |
Milan |
£78.48 |
£82.47 |
-5 |
Return flight £62 per person, departing London Gatwick on 21st October, returning on 28th October. Flight details here. |
|
10 |
Palma |
£169.46 |
£173.23 |
-2 |
Return flight £109 per person, departing Liverpool on 23rd October, returning on 28th October. Flight details here |
Hayley Shearer, Growth Manager at Skyscanner comments: “We understand this time of year is key for families looking to book their next get away and whilst we have seen average flight prices for October go down by 7%³ year on year, we wanted to drill this down even further to find out which destinations are offering the best value on flights this half term. Even if a travellers' key destination isn't listed in our top ten destinations declining in flight prices, there are many other hacks families can apply to keep costs down, for example, considering flying from a different airport. A family of four travelling to Dubai could save a staggering £684 by switching their departure from London Gatwick to London Heathrow.”
When looking at the destinations currently being booked for 2017 October half term the popularity ranking is similar to those in 2016, with Amsterdam and New York still leading the way5. Four of the top ten most popular destinations are seeing a drop in average flight price this October half term, Faro seeing the biggest drop in flight prices of 15% yoy.
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2017 Most Popular for October 2017 Half Term5 |
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|
|
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Ranking Change on 2016 |
2017 Average Flight Price |
|
1 |
Amsterdam |
same |
£100.09 |
|
2 |
New York |
same |
£536.17 |
|
3 |
Dublin |
up 1 |
£64.24 |
|
4 |
Dubai |
down 1 |
£451.64 |
|
5 |
Barcelona |
same |
£122.05 |
|
6 |
Alicante |
up 1 |
£157.71 |
|
7 |
Malaga |
down 1 |
£164.85 |
|
8 |
Berlin |
up 1 |
£100.05 |
|
9 |
Paris |
down 1 |
£118.46 |
|
10 |
Faro |
up 1 |
£177.58 |
To help keep flight costs down this October half term, Skyscanner has compiled these great travel hacks:
- Monitor prices - The best way of getting a good fare is to keep track of the prices by setting up a price alert so that you are notified when prices rise or fall on a specific route.
- Don't be stuck on a precise date to travel: You might find it's significantly cheaper to travel a day before or a day after your original departure dates. Skyscanner has just launched their Money Saving button which flags to travellers if their flight might be cheaper if they were to travel a day earlier or a day later also Consider travelling on a week day rather than the weekend and be as flexible as possible and fly on less popular days of the week. It pays to do your research by using Skyscanner's Month View search tool.
- Mix and Match: Fares don't have to be booked as returns, instead you can save money by flying out with one airline and back with another.
- Nearby Airports: Just click on 'add nearby airports' when creating your search and see if a short drive, bus or train journey could save you pounds
- Search Everywhere: For those with a limited budget but an unlimited imagination, Skyscanner recommends using its Search Everywhere tool, which will find the cheapest destinations to travel to for a specific date period.
-ends –
For more information, please contact Emma Wiseman on 07747 343233 or emma.wiseman@skyscanner.net
Notes to editors
¹ Based on Skyscanner flight exit data for economy return flights from UK to destinations outside of the UK for October half term 2017 (21st – 29th October), where there is a min of 300 exits recorded on destinations from the UK. Comparing the average flight prices to 2016 October half term (22nd October – 30th October 2016 average flight prices from UK to destinations outside of the UK. Booked between 1st January – 10th September 2016 and 1st January – 10th September 2017.
² Based on 2016 October Half Term flight exit data for return economy flights from UK to destinations outside of the UK booked between January – October 2017
³ Based on Skyscanner flight exit data on all return economy flights from the UK between 1st October – 31st October 2016, comparing against 1st October 2015 – 31st October2015
4 £537 return flight from London Heathrow to Dubai comparing against £708 return flights from London Gatwick to Dubai on the same dates
5 Based on Skyscanner flight exit data for economy return flights from UK to all destinations outside of the UK for travel for the October half term 2017 (21st – 29th October 2017)
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For more information, please visit www.skyscanner.net
