Flexibility. It’s been a very trending word over the last few years. Whether it’s about work, family life or something else. And the flex movement has clearly also reached the travel industry. Better even, flexible travel seems to be having a real moment in 2022. According to recent findings, almost half of the Brits aren’t looking at one destination in particular when they’re booking a vacation. And one in three says that budget is the most important factor when planning a holiday. And that’s where the whole flex travel trend comes in.
Of course, we haven’t just made up those numbers. They’re the hard data resulting from a survey carried out by OnePoll for the travel website Skyscanner.
In the past, being a flexible traveller might have meant flying at anti-social times or from a different airport to get a good price. But in the last decade we’ve seen a seismic shift to more spontaneous and last-minute bookings.
Naomi Hahn, Skyscanner’s Travel Trends Forecaster
“The effect of the pandemic and the ever-evolving travel restrictions have continued to accelerate this shift with flex travel becoming a new travel norm. In 2021 we saw some surprising destinations rise in popularity as corridors shone a light on restriction free destinations – keeping your options open is a trend we expect will continue beyond pandemic considerations and play a major role in summer 2022,” Skyscanner’s Travel Trends Forecaster Naomi Hahn told Glamour.
More flexibility, more effort?
So, what does it take to be a flex traveller? Do you actually have to put in more effort beforehand or not? Turns out, it’s very easy. A lot of different travel websites such as Ryanair and Skyscanner are now giving you the option to find the best prices for certain dates without having to choose a destination beforehand. That way, you don’t have to search for hours anymore in order to find a destination that’ll match your dates and budget – the search engines are doing that work for you.
Of course, it goes without saying but your dates remain a very defining part of the calculation. Meaning that if you don’t find what you’re looking for on your original dates, don’t hesitate to search for a day earlier or later. And even though, as we said, there are sites out there trying to do the hard work for you, doing your own research by checking different airways (or even combining them) might save you a good lot of money. As far as hotels go, we recommend you always check the accommodation’s own website too. More often than not, the prices there are even better than those you see on sites such as Booking.com or Expedia. Just saying.
