The pandemic has left the skies clear: fewer travelers at airports, fewer trips on company schedules, and many of their employees on the ground.
Airlines claim they will not recover from the coronavirus crisis until 2024, and the truth is that this summer’s data is not good. Spain, during the month of July, had less than a quarter of the passengers than last season. And, in Europe, air traffic was 78% lower.
See also: Argentina could resume regular domestic and international flights on October 1st.
In this context of uncertainty, those who want to travel around the world wonder whether it is the right time to do so, amidst doubts about destinations and restrictions on movement.
Therefore, anything can be helpful when planning the next trip. And artificial intelligence intends to come to the rescue or, at least, to give a hand. The online travel agency eDreams proposes that you use technology to travel intelligently and at the lowest possible price.
See also: More than 27,000 passengers mobilized Avianca after reactivating flights.
The company has brought out a tool that predicts market prices: “It adds more than 14 billion pieces of data from 660 airlines and provides trends on fare fluctuations to help customers make informed decisions about when to book and where to travel,” the company explains.
All of this data is collected on a web page and captured on various graphs and a world map, so that passengers can choose where to go thanks to this up-to-date information. Also, in an indirect way, “it benefits the sector as a whole, since it has an influence on mobilizing demand and motivating consumers to make new reservations,” he indicates.
“It also greatly benefits the momentum of tourism. The uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 has motivated the need to make the task of inspiring and booking travel as easy as possible”, adds the online agency.
Thus, the artificial intelligence gives you 3 recommendations before booking your next flight.
The first one: better to look for a flexible destination, than a specific flight
The strategy is as follows: go to the map of countries and the traffic light colors, from green to red, will tell you which destinations are more economical to travel to. Almost the whole planet is covered with hopeful colors, given the situation of the airlines.
According to it, flights to Spain are 29% cheaper than the previous year. And if you go through each country, you will be able to see the price reductions in each one.
If you had a specific landing place in mind, it might be better to think twice. For example, in France, the evolution of prices makes the neighbor 51% cheaper. It is one of the cheapest, along with Lithuania (-71%) and Poland (-68%), as the tool indicates. These figures may vary depending on the circumstances.
“Thanks to this new functionality, travelers can identify the most affordable time of year to book their flights, both for travel within the country itself, as well as for continental and even intercontinental movements,” details eDreams.
The second: it is better not to plan the trip, than to book it in advance
“So far, the main trend is that the continental rates are those where a higher rate of savings has been perceived, especially in the departures prior to 30 days, which have seen reductions of up to almost 50%,” they indicate.
That is, if you book less than a month in advance, you will benefit more than if your trip is planned between the next 30 and 90 days or even after 90. Conclusion: don’t plan.
And the third one: look for continental flights, then national and finally intercontinental
That is the order. Flights within your own continent have the greatest savings. These have come down to half the price, compared to 2019. However, if you book less than 30 days in advance. Therefore, the winning formula is: the shortest period of time + staying at the continental borders.
After that, the cheapest thing would be to book a domestic flight, with differences of up to 44% on the best occasions. Although if what you aspire to is to cross the pond, the reductions are not so noticeable. The price changes in continental fares are around 2% and 13%.
“The functionality is designed to inspire consumers to plan their trips in the post COVID-19 era,” says eDreams. In that sense, the most expensive destinations in the new normality are China (157% more), Mongolia (96%) or Australia (79%).
“It is true that the travel industry has been heavily impacted by COVID-19, but we are convinced that we will soon overcome the difficulties we have been facing during these months. With the progressive lifting of movement restrictions, we have realized the desire of consumers to travel again,” concludes the travel agency.
By Carlota G. Velloso – Business Insider
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