singapore hotel: When is the best time to book your holiday?

‘; var fr = document.getElementById(adID); setHash(fr, hash); fr.body = body; var doc = getFrameDocument(fr); doc.open(); doc.write(body); setTimeout(function() closeDoc(getFrameDocument(document.getElementById(adID))), 2000); } function renderJIFAdWithInterim(holderID, adID, srcUrl, width, height, hash, bodyAttributes) setHash(document.getElementById(holderID), hash); document.dcdAdsR.push(adID); document.write(”); function renderIJAd(holderID, adID, srcUrl, hash) document.dcdAdsAA.push(holderID); setHash(document.getElementById(holderID), hash); document.write(” + ‘ript’); function renderJAd(holderID, adID, srcUrl, hash) document.dcdAdsAA.push(holderID); setHash(document.getElementById(holderID), hash); document.dcdAdsH.push(holderID); document.dcdAdsI.push(adID); document.dcdAdsU.push(srcUrl); function er_showAd() $)”, “gi”); var value = regex.exec(document.cookie); if (value value.length == 3) var externalReferrer = value[1]; return (!FD.isInternalReferrer() return false; function isHome() var loc = “” + window.location; loc = loc.replace(“//”, “”); var tokens = loc.split(“/”); if (tokens.length == 1) return true; else if (tokens.length == 2) if (tokens[1].trim().length == 0) return true; return false; function checkAds(checkStrings) var cs = checkStrings.split(‘,’); for (var i = 0; i 0 cAd.innerHTML.indexOf(c) 0) document.dcdAdsAI.push(cAd.hash); cAd.style.display =’none’; } if (!ie) for (var i = 0; i 0 doc.body.innerHTML.indexOf(c) 0) document.dcdAdsAI.push(fr.hash); fr.style.display =’none’; } } } if (document.dcdAdsAI.length 0 || document.dcdAdsAG.length 0) var pingServerParams = “i=”; var sep = “”; for (var i=0;i 0) var pingServerUrl = “/action/pingServerAction?” + document.pingServerAdParams; var xmlHttp = null; try xmlHttp = new XMLHttpRequest(); catch(e) try xmlHttp = new ActiveXObject(“Microsoft.XMLHttp”); catch(e) xmlHttp = null; if (xmlHttp != null) xmlHttp.open( “GET”, pingServerUrl, true); xmlHttp.send( null ); function initAds(log) for (var i=0;i 0) doc.removeChild(doc.childNodes[0]); doc.open(); var newBody = fr.body; if (getCurrentOrd(newBody) != “” ) newBody = newBody.replace(“;ord=”+getCurrentOrd(newBody), “;ord=” + Math.floor(100000000*Math.random())); else newBody = newBody.replace(“;ord=”, “;ord=” + Math.floor(100000000*Math.random())); doc.write(newBody); document.dcdsAdsToClose.push(fr.id); } else var newSrc = fr.src; if (getCurrentOrd(newSrc) != “” ) newSrc = newSrc.replace(“;ord=”+getCurrentOrd(newSrc), “;ord=” + Math.floor(100000000*Math.random())); else newSrc = newSrc.replace(“;ord=”, “;ord=” + Math.floor(100000000*Math.random())); fr.src = newSrc; } } if (document.dcdsAdsToClose.length 0) setTimeout(function() closeOpenDocuments(document.dcdsAdsToClose), 500); } }; var ie = isIE(); if(ie typeof String.prototype.trim !== ‘function’) String.prototype.trim = function() s+$/g, ”); ; document.dcdAdsH = new Array(); document.dcdAdsI = new Array(); document.dcdAdsU = new Array(); document.dcdAdsR = new Array(); document.dcdAdsEH = new Array(); document.dcdAdsE = new Array(); document.dcdAdsEC = new Array(); document.dcdAdsAA = new Array(); document.dcdAdsAI = new Array(); document.dcdAdsAG = new Array(); document.dcdAdsToClose = new Array(); document.igCount = 0; document.tCount = 0; var dcOrd = Math.floor(100000000*Math.random()); document.dcAdsCParams = “”; var savValue = getAdCookie(“sav”); if (savValue != null savValue.length 2) document.dcAdsCParams = savValue + “;”; document.dcAdsCParams += “csub=csub;”; var aamCookie=function(e,t)var i=document.cookie,n=”";return i.indexOf(e)-1(n=”u=”+i.split(e+”=”)[1].split(“;”)[0]+”;”),i.indexOf(t)-1(n=n+decodeURIComponent(i.split(t+”=”)[1].split(“;”)[0])+”;”),n(“aam_did”,”aam_dest_dfp_legacy”);

Travel

Date

February 6, 2014

44 reading now

(43)

Comments 9

Jane E Fraser

Travel Insider

View more articles from Jane E Fraser

Follow Jane on Twitter

Twitter

submit to reddit

Email article

Reprints permissions

Six weeks away from your trip? Time to book! Illustration: Michael Mucci.

Forty-two may be the meaning of life but it seems six is the magic number when it comes to flying.

Research by the flight search website Skyscanner has found six weeks ahead of travel is generally the best time to book a long-haul flight.

The finding, which was gleaned from three years’ of data, applies to both budget and mainstream airlines.

The Skyscanner research has also confirmed the cheapest time of year to travel, with fares for May almost 20 per cent cheaper than average.

For those who really want a bargain, the cheapest week to fly is week 19, or the week starting April 28, after the Easter school holidays.

I don’t think anyone will be surprised to hear that December is the most expensive month for flights, with week 52 extracting the most from travellers’ wallets.

While six weeks was found to be the overall best timing for booking long-haul flights, it can vary by destination.

Skyscanner looked at some of our favourite holiday spots and found New Zealand and Indonesia are best booked exactly six weeks out, with an average saving of 15 per cent.

Flights to Thailand are best booked five weeks out, with an average saving of 13 per cent.

Singapore is an exception, with the best savings to be found 14 weeks ahead of departure, while the UK is a surprise packet: the best deals are just one week ahead of travel, with an average saving of 11 per cent.

However, the marketing manager for Skyscanner in Australia, Dave Boyte, says waiting until the last week is a risky strategy.

“Even though some of the best fares are found closer to the travel date, it’s important to remember that prices fluctuate all the time, often increasing at the very last minute,” Boyte says.

Travellers who want to take the gamble may be rewarded by an airline throwing out cheap seats to fill the flight but Boyte says tracking prices for a few months ahead of your travel may be a safer bet.

If you’re looking for a flight closer to home it pays to be more organised, with the best deals for short-haul flights typically found 21 weeks in advance.

Of course, bargain fares can be released at any time, so it pays to keep watch on prices if you have a particular destination in mind.

Some mobile apps, including Skyscanner, also allow you to ‘watch’ certain routes or receive an alert when a fare drops.

If you’re able to be flexible in your dates and/or destination, this will nearly always result in the best prices, although you need to have been watching prices to know which fares are bargains.

Another option is to make the most of the earlybird booking season, with deals for long-haul destinations such as Europe traditionally released in waves from September through to November, for travel the following year.

Earlybirds no longer offer a guarantee of getting the cheapest deal but are still excellent value and give you the certainty of having your flights set, so you can plan other things.

Earlybird deals are particularly relevant if you’re planning to join a cruise or tour and are therefore locked into dates.

Sadly, there is no magic number when it comes to the best time to book accommodation.

Getting accommodation bargains is more about going against the flow than booking on a particular date.

Weekend hotspots are often super-cheap or well-packaged during the week if you’re able to get away; beach resorts in particular often struggle to fill rooms beyond Friday and Saturday nights.

Meanwhile, city hotels that make their money out of business travellers release some excellent deals for leisure travellers on weekends, often packaged with breakfast, parking and other add-ons.

Wotif (http://www.wotif.com/) product director Donna Rodios says going against the flow can also work in peak holiday periods.

“Beach accommodation can be at a premium during the school holidays, but for the same travel period you can often get great rates for CBD hotels,” Rodios says.

“It can really pay to head to the cities during peak periods and take advantage of the pools, tennis courts and gyms without the crowds.”

I’ve found one of the best ways to get a bargain on accommodation is to book a mystery hotel.

Sites offering mystery hotels or ‘secret stays’ give the general location and star rating of the hotel so it is not a big risk and I’ve discovered some great hotels that way.

Mystery deals used to be limited to capital cities – generally five-star hotels trying to fill rooms on weekends – but you can now find them for beach breaks, mountain hideaways and even outback adventures.

jane.fraser@fairfaxmedia.com.au

9 comments so far

When is the best time to book your holiday?

When your right eye relocates itself to its proper location?

Ian.

Commenter
Ian

Location

Batty

Date and time

February 07, 2014, 7:53AM

There is no set times to book flights or hotels. The best idea is to pick dates that you want to stay or travel .Who you want to travel or stay with.. Then scan the sites of these companies and look for specials then secure your booking.

Commenter
FREQUENTFLYER

Location

Date and time

February 07, 2014, 7:58AM

Well it depends on the timing and destination. For the Xmas period if I waited until six weeks in advance I’d be lucky to find a flight full stop! For flights to Asian countries – you need to book flights and rooms way in advance if you are arriving during Chinese New Years, Ramadan, Diwali – etc.
So the advice comes down to the usual – if you can fly to a destination outside of the holiday periods it’s cheaper, and six weeks is probably the latest you can get a cheapish ticket

Commenter
CityDweller

Location

Date and time

February 07, 2014, 8:49AM

I think it depends on your circumstances. As someone who books a lot of travel with frequent flyer miles, I find the Business Class seats need to be booked 11 months in advance. This is due to so few seats being made available by airlines for redemption using miles.

Commenter
Paul

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

February 07, 2014, 11:28AM
- at bust times you mean. There are always lots of ff seats at times people don’t want to travel. This is why ff programmes were set up int he 1st place, not to have ff seats available at Xmas when most flights get overbooked.
  
  Commenter
  not sure
  
  Location
  
  SYDNEY
  
  Date and time
  
  February 07, 2014, 2:06PM

we go to USA to ski every December-January period we’ve learned that if you don’t book now to depart late December or early January, we end up paying more. It seems most airlines load their flights around 50 weeks ahead.

There are rarely, except at start of GFC, any last minute deals departing late December or early January.

According to our wholesaler, flights to USA this Xmas will be more expensive due to a drop in capacity. We often fly via Fiji in one direction those flights have gone from a roughly 550 seat boeing 747 to a 270 seat airbus 330. Think it was 5 days per week with the 747 now daily with the airbus, but still a massive reduction in capacity, per week from around 2750 to 1890.

As geographically, Fiji is in perfect stop (on line between Syd LAX) they can do things much cheaper than nonstops.

this silly idea of finding the cheapest fares online is simply wrong.

We always go to our wholesaler around this time of year, get the price for payment now then quickly compare online the wholesaler is always much cheaper + they give us options you can’t get online, such as FREE stopovers incredibly low cost upgrades.

Also with our regular ski accommodation, earlybird deals seem to be cheapest bay far lift tickets are cheap as chips if get in early. We just paid USD$330 for 8 day out of 10 for January 2015 with priority lift line (no queues) or just over USD$40/day all the kids 12 under are free, just totally FREE.

Commenter
not sure

Location

SYDNEY

Date and time

February 07, 2014, 2:04PM

I usually book much further out than 6 weeks. I usually looking at several months. I generally do my own booking and I find you can’t really book anything else (accomodation, car hire) until you have flight times nailed down.

Commenter
Richo

Location

Canberra

Date and time

February 07, 2014, 2:09PM

The cat is out of the bag now. What’s the bet that fares booked on “the week starting April 28″ will be higher from now on.

Commenter
Yachtie

Location

Maroubra

Date and time

February 07, 2014, 2:16PM

As we head away to Bali during the kids school holidays we generally book asap in order to get our preferred day time and also guarantee our chosen seating arrangement.
Not too fussed about price or frequent flyer points.

Commenter
ASAP

Location

Morn Pen

Date and time

February 07, 2014, 3:34PM