2022 holiday travel trends and how to hack travel in the new year

Looking at the year’s travel trends, the numbers paint a picture that includes exotic destinations, sunny beaches and holiday cheer – but also some indications of why people will choose to staycation these holidays.

It appears that globally, people are less jittery about travel after three years of disruption, and are making up for lost time and opportunity. Recent Vitality Travel data showed a 268% increase in air travel since 2019 this year. We also know that locally, up to 1,750 of our members are boarding planes daily.

Accommodation bookings in the first half of 2022 have well surpassed bookings in the same period in 2019. The European Office for Statistics, reports ?that accommodation bookings via Booking.com, Expedia, AirBnB and TripAdvisor are up by seven million nights booked this year, versus 2019. That’s nearly 200 million nights of stays booked this year, even through the ebbs and flows of Omicron and other variants of Covid-19.

Travel costs remain inflated

When you insert the holiday season into the travel equation, flight prices are steep. We are definitely seeing a dearth in supply globally and this is pushing prices up. Predictions are that holiday airfares will be five times higher than at off-peak, including in South Africa where our travel industry is recovering from additional factors that have influenced reduced supply.??

There might be a science behind the best times to book flights. Booking in advance is an obvious way to reduce costs, as is booking on “odd” days – some studies say Wednesdays can be more expensive. A recent Google Flights?analysis of five years of flights, accounting for pandemic upsets, found that “historically, it’s been cheaper to fly in the middle of the week than on the weekend – especially Sundays. On average, flights that depart on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday have been 12% cheaper than weekend departures”.

They also determined that booking 52 days in advance yields the cheapest deals (that’s right now for those who want to travel early next year, including for the Easter holidays).

Travellers are advised to book around the global peak week, between Christmas and New Year, as either side of these holidays are cheaper by 15% than in that week, according to Expedia. Then, consider alternate airports to the larger ones for international destinations (La Guardia versus JFK in New York and Gatwick versus Heathrow in London, for example). ?

So, where are people going?

The recent worldwide travel inspiration list revealed by Conde Nast Traveller includes Cape Town in SA, Piedmont in Italy, Maine in Portland in the US, Qatar and Istanbul, Turkey as some of the trendiest options for travellers to visit for the year.

Vitality Travel trends show similar popular destinations for the upcoming holidays, and that close to 300,000 flights have been booked on the travel platform since March.

For the upcoming holiday period, December 2022 to January 2023,?the top international destinations for all Vitality Travellers were:

1.????London

2.????Dubai

3.????Sydney

4.????Mauritius

5.????Geneva and

6.????Phuket

And our top local destinations for the year are:

1.????Cape Town

2.????Johannesburg

3.????Durban

4.????George and

5.????Gqeberha.

This despite ticket prices being higher than ever in South Africa, especially on these popular routes. For example, an average return flight to Cape Town from Johannesburg cost R1,224 in January 2022 versus R1,743 in July 2022. A return flight from Cape Town to Durban increased from R1,139 to R2,099 in the same period.

Vitality members go everywhere

Flight booking discounts make a significant difference in pricing, because Vitality members get up to 75% off six local flights per year, depending on their level of engagement.

A family of three paid R841 for three return flights from Johannesburg to Cape Town. From a total of R10,991 on Lift and FlySafAir airlines, they received R3,700 in Vitality discounts and paid the difference in Discovery Miles – our rewards currency earned from exercise, driving well and spending responsibly. Their pay-in was less than a one-way flight on this journey.?

International flights are also rewarding:

o??Vitality travellers booked a holiday in Zurich, Switzerland this December. Their family of four would have paid R49,364 for their return flights… but with their Vitality travel discounts (R15,850) and using their Discovery Miles to cover the difference, they paid just R14,362 in cash or R3,590 per person.

o??A family of three are going to have a white Christmas in the UK. They booked three return flights to London from Johannesburg which would normally cost about R39,000. With their R16,000 Vitality discount, plus R11,200 paid in Discovery Miles, they paid R12,600 or R3,300 per person, in cash. ?

It’s no wonder that Vitality Travellers are on the move. As the travel industry stabilises and moves toward normality, there are ways around making travel work. I hope you will be inspired to #LiveLifeWithVitality and have rewarding travel experiences in 2023.