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Holidaymakers miss billions of savings due to package holiday scepticism

Paloma Kubiak
Written By:
Paloma Kubiak
Posted:
Updated:
11/03/2016

Travellers are missing out on £2bn of savings by booking flight and accommodation separately rather than as a package holiday because of a fear they’ll be ripped off.

Data by travel site Expedia reveals that buying a flight and hotel together can save an average of £139.

But bigger discounts can be found on long-haul breaks with holidaymakers enjoying more than £500 of savings when booking trips to New York, Los Angeles and Dubai.

Those travelling to the Maldives can save about £950, while a holiday to the Maldives can see savings of more than £1,000.

As part of its research which surveyed 2,000 people who’d booked a holiday in the last year, Expedia found 28% said the internet had made travel booking more, rather than less, stressful owing to the overwhelming websites and travel suppliers on offer.

After making a booking, one in six people return to see whether the price has changed and in more than half of cases, it has. Many get so fed up with looking into different options that they book the same holiday as their last.

Andy Washington, managing director of Northern Europe at Expedia, said: “The package holiday revolutionised travel when it first arrived 50 years ago, but the concept was based on travel agents giving you a prescribed flight and hotel for your trip. Today’s traveller expects to have control and make decisions independently and through packages, customers can find huge savings by purchasing a flight and hotel together.”