#expedia.com

Report Debunks Eight Air Travel Myths and Highlights Tips to Save Up to 25% on Flights

Plus, New Flight Deals Tool Launches on the Expedia App, Spotting Great Fares to Anywhere

— Seattle | 28 January, 2025

Today Expedia® released its 2025 Air Hacks Report, debunking myths and uncovering data-based strategies that will save travelers money in 2025. August, despite being peak summer travel time, has been revealed as the cheapest month to travel, while February and March are the priciest. The myth-busting analysis, created in partnership with the Airlines Reporting Corporation, also found that booking flights on a Sunday can save travelers up to 17%, proving day of the week does matter.

In addition to unpacking secrets to save, Expedia also announced a brand-new Flight Deals tool on its app: a customizable deals feed that lets travelers browse current flight deals from their home airport. Find deals to anywhere, or filter by destination and travel date, and create custom alerts. Travelers also don’t have to wonder whether it’s actually a good deal – Flight Deals only surfaces fares that are at least 20% lower than the typical predicted price.*

Myth #1: “Summer is the most expensive time to travel.”

Busted: August is the cheapest month to travel, February and March are the most expensive.

Traveling domestically in August vs. February can save travelers 12%. Flying internationally in August vs. March can save up to 7%.

Myth #2: “There’s no best day of the week to book flights.”

Busted: Booking on a Sunday can keep more in your wallet.

For the third year in a row, the data shows Sunday is the cheapest day to book flights. Domestic travelers can save 6% while international travelers can save 17% compared to booking on a Monday or Friday.

Myth #3: “The day of the week I travel doesn’t affect the cost.”

Busted: Saturday and Thursday are the cheapest days to depart.

It’s not just when you book, it’s when you fly. Regardless of fare class and destination, flying on Thursday instead of Sunday can save travelers 17%.

Domestic travelers should depart on Saturday instead of Sunday to save 17%. On the international front, Thursday is the cheapest day to fly—travelers can save 15% compared to flying on a Sunday.

Myth #4: “The further ahead you book, the cheaper it will be.”

Busted: The sweet spot is closer to departure than you think.

Book domestic flights 1 to 3 months in advance to save 25% compared to last-minute bookers.

Book international flights just 18 to 29 days before departure and save up to 17% versus booking three months out or more.

Waiting too long to book can be a high-risk, high-reward strategy. On one hand, you could snag an awesome deal. On the other, you could end up with longer layovers, sold-out flights or a higher ticket price. Luckily, there’s no need to wait to book or worry about overpaying. Price Drop Protection on the Expedia app provides an automatic refund for the difference if a flight price drops on Expedia after booking – and it’s free for Gold and Platinum One Key members.**

Myth #5: “Airfare goes up every year.”

Busted: Average ticket prices are down.

Domestic economy tickets are down 1% from last year, and international economy tickets are 4% cheaper. In 2024, the average ticket price for domestic flights was $462 ($464 in 2023) and $849 for international flights ($882 in 2023).

Myth #6: “Premium tickets are always too expensive to consider.”

Busted: The difference between premium and economy has come down.

Thinking of upgrading? It’s more affordable than ever. The price gap between premium and economy tickets is down 10% compared to 2019.

Myth #7: “Every flight I take is full.”

Busted: Evade crowds by traveling during quiet periods.

Tuesday is the quietest day of the week to travel, and February is the quietest month. July, on the other hand, sees 65% more flights than February.

Myth #8: “There’s nothing I can do about delays and cancellations.”

Busted: Morning flights are much less likely to be cancelled.

Cancellations doubled in 2024, impacting 3.4% of flights. Here’s how avoid them:

Flights that depart after 9 p.m. have a 57% higher chance of being cancelled compared to those that leave earlier in the day. Flights departing between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. face the lowest rate of cancellations.

August and September see the lowest rate of cancellations (1.2%). August also sees the shortest average delays, making it one of the smoothest months for travel.9

“It’s smart to keep the 2025 Air Hacks in mind when booking flights, but the best hack is to let technology find the best value. Set up Price Alerts, rely on Price Drop Protection to swoop in and reimburse you if prices drop, and use Expedia’s new Flight Deals tool to see where you can fly for at least 20% lower than typical,” said Melanie Fish, head of Expedia Group Brands public relations.

“Airfares are down, the end of summer is the cheapest time to fly, and booking too far out can actually cost you money – these realities fly in the face of advice floating around the internet,” said Fish. “It makes sense to trust the billions of data points from across the world and every airline that go into the Expedia Air Hacks report.”

“ARC’s data provided valuable insights into debunking travel myths for Expedia’s 2025 Air Hacks Report that will go a long way to helping travelers prepare for their 2025 vacations,” said Chuck Thackston, managing director of data science and research at ARC. “In 2025, affordable premium and economy fares can help U.S. passengers as they continue to prioritize international travel with their discretionary spending to explore new destinations around the world.”

Interested and eligible participants can enter to Expedia 2024 New Orleans Jazz Fest Sweepstakes which provide you complete satisfaction and you will also enjoy it a lot. Sweepstakes open for all United States residents. All participants need to submit entry before April 3rd, 2024 and can get a chance to Win a 5-night trip to Jazz Fest. (total ARV of all prizes $21,450.00). Sweepstakes Entry…

Expedia Kids in the City: Philadelphia with Mara Gorman

Family travel blogger Mara Gorman of The Mother of All Trips has partnered with Expedia to give us her take on what to do, where to go, and other tips and tricks …

Le géant français des centres d’appel mis en demeure de mieux protéger ses salariés

[ad_1] 2020-05-15 06:00:00 Source

La multiplication des cas de Covid-19 contractés sur les lieux de travail révèle que de nombreuses entreprises ont fait passer leur profit avant la santé et la sécurité de leurs salariés. C’est le cas de Teleperformance, leader mondial des call-centers, qui doit prendre les mesures nécessaires pour protéger ses travailleurs face au coronavirus.

Inconnue du…

There is absolutely no advantage to booking with aggregators like Expedia or Hotels.com

By their own admission they are just “a third-party intermediary with travel providers such as hotels, car rental agencies, and airlines”. How could adding an intermediary with questionable customer service possibly make things more efficient? They need to pay their staff, web designer, social media person, programmers, and more after all. Ever see an Expedia commercial? Who do you think paid for that? Ultimately, you.

Now that’s not to say their sites don’t serve a purpose. Let them serve as a search engine. Find your flight or hotel on their site and then go book that same hotel or flight directly. This increases your odds of an upgrade.

Expedia and their ilk may often have the same price as the hotel or the airline but that’s a flawed business model – how do they make any money on those transactions? They do it by strong-arming the company to sell the flights and rooms to Expedia at a discount. If the company doesn’t play ball they lose out on a lot of potential customers.

The effect of this is that these companies don’t look favorably on Expedia customers. The professional ones will never let you see it, but I’ve been in many situations with both airlines and hotels in which something was denied or restricted because I had booked with Expedia. If you book directly with the company at the same price the airline or hotel has a healthier profit margin. They like this, and so they’re more likely to like you.

Put yourself in their shoes. People are checking into a hotel and you’ve got a fancy room that hasn’t been booked. Do you offer that room as a free upgrade to someone who booked directly with your company and has some measure of brand loyalty or do you give it to the person who let Expedia take a cut and is more likely to book solely on price? Loyalty wins the day.

Some hotels and airlines refuse to play ball so when you’re searching on Trivago you might not see them. Some airlines don’t put their most discounted fares on these sites so you might not be getting the best deal or seeing all the options.

Also don’t be fooled – Trivago isn’t trying to shake up an industry. Expedia owns Hotels.com, Orbitz, Travelocity, Trivago, and VRBO. None of these are upstart innovators, they’re all the same corporate empire. An empire that made $11 billion in 2018 on hotels and airlines without owning a single hotel or airplane. They haven’t so much as made your bed.

So, as they are a giant corporate entity feel free to use them for showrooming. That’s right, just like the folks who look at the TV in Best Buy and then buy it on Amazon look at the hotel on Expedia but then book it directly. Score one for the little guy. Okay, Hilton isn’t exactly little but at least they built that hotel, cleaned up your room, and have a vested interest in providing excellent customer service so that you’ll stay with them again.

Expedia wants to make money by inserting itself into the process and offering not much more value than a google search. Their “why” is to make money, I prefer companies whose “why” is to get you from city to city or give you a great place to stay when you get there.

(a response to two young Expedia bureaucrats who have no authentic compassion for the aging customer, simply a regurgitation of rules that should be interpreted proportionately, not exacted as a means of increasing revenue)

(I am a 74 year old man) who has been a good Expedia customer and must tell you AARP should wish to know, I'm certain, of your callous practices and inefficiency representing Expedia and the hotel I over booked.  I shall also, vigilantly and consistently, post my story on Twitter and other social media, where it may warn people of the fact: a) I called you and the hotel within 5 minutes of my error while receiving no practical response, to say nothing of mercy, b) I observed online at the same time that a goodly number of people were viewing the room in question, indicating it could have been filled had you and/or the hotel you were representing taken some action, c) and that for my efforts you and/or the hotel collect over $200 and, almost certainly, a booking for the night in question, or should have because I called to correct the error making the room technically open.

(Expedia.com punishes the elderly for 5 minute mistake)

Have you actually read and absorbed my experience? If I overbook and take no action, I see your point. But to charge over $200 for a mistake I promptly tried to correct while providing you and the hotel with the information necessary to fix the problem information, this practice is a certain form of wrong-doing covered by rules that should only apply disproportionately in this case and possibly others.

You make no allowances?! What Expedia and the hotel has issued is a summary punishment for wrong-doers, not something that one applies toward loyal customers who attempt to correct an error in a timely fashion. Stunning. You are most certainly young folks "doing your job." Will you even be working for Expedia in three years...?! I wish you both good health. You are going to need it as you yourselves grow old in our impoverished culture, one in which compassion and right action have gone missing, and their stead false projections of emotion that boil down to mere business rhetoric.   jet