Booking Holiday Travel in October Can Save Up to 25 Percent

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Travelers looking to maximize airfare savings this holiday season should book their flights in early October. Hipmunk, the fastest, easiest way to plan travel, has released its annual holiday airfare analysis, which reveals that booking flights for Thanksgiving the first week of October can save travelers up to 23 percent. For the Christmastime holiday, booking the week of October 15 can save travelers up to 25 percent.

"The holiday season is an expensive time of year to travel," said Adam Goldstein, CEO and co-founder of Hipmunk. "The best advice is to know when to book, to be flexible, and utilize tools that let you see your travel options side-by-side. For example, Hipmunk's Flex Dates feature allows you to search multiple departure and arrival dates simultaneously."

Hipmunk also found a number of other insider tips to cut costs this holiday season:

• Travel on the holiday itself
• Traveling on Thanksgiving Day can save up to 21 percent over the most expensive departure date, Thanksgiving Eve
• Flying on Christmas Day will save up to 20 percent over the most expensive departure date, Dec 21 (the Friday prior to the holiday)
• Tip: Hipmunk's Flex Dates feature allows travelers to search multiple departure and arrival dates
• Fly into an alternate airport
• Flying into an alternate airport for Thanksgiving can save up to 14 percent
• Flying into an alternate airport the week of Christmas can save up to 17 percent
• Tip: To search multiple airports on Hipmunk, simply insert a comma between airport codes
• Book basic economy instead of coach  
• Save 13 percent on average for Thanksgiving flights this year
• Save 14 percent on average for flights at Christmastime
• Tip: Hipmunk allows travelers to compare fare classes directly in search results 
• Stay in a vacation rental or private room instead of a hotel
• Thanksgiving travelers can save 10 percent on average by booking a vacation rental versus a hotel
• Save 7 percent on average during the week of Christmas
• Tip: Hipmunk displays vacation rental results in-line with hotels, so travelers can easily compare options within their search results
• Set a fare alert
• Thanksgiving travelers save an average of 6 percent by setting a fare alert
• Christmastime travelers save an average of 7 percent
• Tip: Travelers can use Hipmunk to set a fare alert that will track the price of their flight and alert them when the price drops

For more detail and methodology on the data analysis, visit the Hipmunk blog here.

ABOUT HIPMUNK 
Hipmunk from SAP Concur is the fastest, easiest way to plan travel. The site and mobile apps help save time and money by comparing top travel sites to show the perfect flight or hotel at the lowest price. Hipmunk offers the most comprehensive travel search, from commercial flights, trains, and charter flights to hotels and vacation rentals through Airbnb. The unique display makes it easy to visually compare results to choose the best option. Try Hipmunk's A.I.-powered personal travel assistant, Hello Hipmunk, to get instant planning and booking recommendations by visiting www.hipmunk.com/hello. Learn more about Hipmunk by visiting www.hipmunk.com or by visiting our blog. 

ABOUT SAP CONCUR 
For more than two decades, SAP Concur has taken companies of all sizes and stages beyond automation to a completely connected spend management solution encompassing travel, expense, invoice, compliance and risk. SAP Concur's global expertise and industry-leading innovation keep its customers a step ahead with time-saving tools, leading-edge technology and connected data, in a dynamic ecosystem of diverse partners and applications. User-friendly and business-ready, SAP Concur unlocks powerful insights that help businesses reduce complexity and see spending clearly, so they can manage it proactively. Learn more at?concur.com?or the?SAP Concur?blog. 

SOURCE Hipmunk