Abu Dhabi: Travellers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) can get discounts on international flights and fly for a cost as little as Dirham 78 (Rs 1,761) if they are prepared to make spontaneous decisions, according to a survey.
A research report produced by Skyscanner, a global flight, car hire and hotel marketplace, in association with OnePoll, reveals that 94 percent of UAE travellers consider themselves spontaneous.
80 percent of UAE survey respondents claim to be more spontaneous now than they were pre-COVID-19.
Almost 42 percent of UAE travellers arrive at airports without a destination in mind and book on the spot. While 60 percent book a holiday less than four days before departure.
Meanwhile, 63 percent of UAE travellers said that they would feel happy if a loved one surprised them with a spontaneous vacation, while 23 percent would be grateful.
With 80 billion fares searched every day, a search on Skyscanner for September reveals value flights from UAE, for as little as Dirhams 78 (Rs 1,761) to Kuwait, Dirhams 158 (Rs 3,568) to Jordan, Dirhams 318 (Rs 7,182) to Italy or Dirhams 365 (Rs 8,244) to Greece in September.
Skyscanner’s travel expert Ayoub El Mamoun said, “As the world embarks on a renewed era of global travel, countless new flight routes connect us from all corners of the globe. Add to this the growing number of visa-on-arrival and visa-free travel options from the UAE, and easily and quickly searching and comparing cheap flights through sites like Skyscanner, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for the soaring trend of spontaneous holidays.”
Here are tips to book spontaneous flights
- Flex those dates
Searching across multiple dates and airports will give you the best chance of a bargain. Flight prices are all based on supply and demand. Because some dates are more popular than others, prices will vary. Flying on less popular days of the week is often cheaper.
- Mix and match
Being flexible in mixing up the airlines you choose to fly with can cut costs. Fares don’t have to be booked as returns, look at flying out with one airline and back with another or out of one airport and back into another.
