Flight fare analysis: Last-minute flight bookings cost 25% more on average
An analysis of flight fares across 54 Indian routes shows that booking a month in advance saves approximately 25% compared to last-minute bookings. The data indicates that prices consistently rise as the departure date approaches, with no routes offering cheaper last-minute fares.
Why it matters
This data provides actionable consumer advice for travelers looking to optimize costs in the Indian aviation market.
NEW DELHI: Everyone knows a last-minute flight costs more. Almost nobody knows by how much, or on which routes it matters enough to change what you do.An analysis of fares by the TOI-DPA Airline Price Index, flights across 54 routes connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune puts a number on it. Booking a month ahead instead of the day before saves about a fifth of the fare on the average route. And there is not one route in the set where leaving it late works out cheaper.What does the curve look like?The tracker sets the day-before fare on each route at 100 and measures every other booking point against it. A reading of 80 means a ticket bought at that point costs 80% of what the same seat costs the day before departure.Across the whole network the reading at 30 days out is 80.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in