Understanding Airline & Travel Booking Trends
Understanding Airline& Travel Booking TrendsLeveraging past trends toincrease future online bookings.A SaleCycle Data ReportGet in touch.AmericasNew York City 1 917 243 9845Asia-PacificSingapore 65 6635 2487N. EMEAUnited Kingdom 44 191 500 7400S. EMEAFrance 33 1 81 80 60 48
Understanding Airline & Travel Booking TrendsSaleCycleAirline & Travel Booking TrendsOnline booking abandonment is a big issue in thetravel industry, especially for airlines. Our mostrecent data puts the average global abandonmentrate at 87.9% for airline sites, much higher than thetravel industry average of 81%, and overall onlineabandonment rate of 76.9%.Airlines and travel sites in general face some uniquechallenges in converting visitors into bookers,and this goes some way to explaining why theseabandonment rates are so high. While there area variety of reasons for abandonment, the lengthand relative complexity of the search and bookingprocess for airlines is a key factor.With huge revenue at stake, it is crucial for airlines tomake sure that they are not losing unnecessary salesdue to poor user experience affecting conversionrates. If online abandonment can be reduced evenslightly, it will equate to a huge boost in revenue.For this report, we took a look back at a full calendaryear (2018) of booking trends data from SaleCycleairline and travel industry clients. These trendsprovide lessons on how airlines and travel sitescan address and minimize abandonment, make thecomplex booking process easier, and how to temptvisitors back after they’ve left a booking behind.According to IATA, the airline industry revenuelinked to passenger activity amounted to 564billion in 2018 and is expected to grow by morethan 7% to reach 606 billion*. This revenue isdespite the fact that more than 87% of bookings areabandoned, so there is obviously huge potential forsales growth if online abandonment is addressed.*Source: IATA press release; Strong Airline Profitability Continues in 2018SaleCycle Data Report02
Understanding Airline & Travel Booking TrendsWho We Are“Our mission is to inspire, shape, and support theconversions that exist within every customer journey.”Dominic Edmunds, Founder & CEO SaleCycleFrom the moment someone lands on a website forthe first time, through to following up purchases instyle, we help our customers ensure their visitor’sonline journey is truly cyclical.We use behavioral data to help optimize conversionrates, recover abandoned sales and increasecustomer lifetime value. The end result? Increasedonline sales.Trusted by the world’s biggest and best travel brands:SaleCycle Data Report03
Understanding Airline & Travel Booking TrendsContentsPart One SaleCycle Airline & Travel Booking TrendsThe Issue of Abandonment06.Trends in Booking Timings08.Why Do People Abandon?10.Where Are We Going?12.How Do We Book?13.Part Two Tips to Increase Future Online BookingsIntroduction16.Recognize Your Customer17.Enrich the User Experience18.Think Mobile First19.Let Them Pay Their Way19.Provide a Sense of Urgency20.Use Booking Abandonment Emails20.Provide Flexible Search Options20.Conclusion21.SaleCycle Data Report04
Part OneSaleCycle Airline & Travel Booking TrendsCalendar Year 2018
Understanding Airline & Travel Booking TrendsThe Issue of AbandonmentAverage Abandonment Rate by Month 2018SaleCycle Client Data88.41%88.90%88.82%88.05%87.75%Average Airline Abandonment RateAverage Travel Abandonment 80.62%80.58%79.78%JANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNAverage 2018 Abandonment Rate by IndustrySaleCycle Client fit76.93%Retail74.58%Fashion74.13%SaleCycle Data ReportJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDECAirline abandonment rates are reasonably steadythroughout the year, between around 87% and89%. By looking at the data, we see a trend whichshows that abandonment rates are lower in themonths between September and December. This isalso the period with the lowest sales volume, whichshows that visitors reaching airline websites have agreater intent to purchase, with fewer visitors onlyresearching for future holidays.Travel abandonment rates, as well as being muchlower, tend to fluctuate a little more during theyear, with the two highest peaks in March and July.For people booking for the northern-hemispheresummer, March and April are a key time for booking,showing that this is the time when most decisions06
Understanding Airline & Travel Booking Trendsare made. It, therefore, makes sense that peopleabandon more bookings as they hone in on thebest deal for them. Likewise, for more last-minutebookers looking to head away around August, Julyis the crunch time for last minute research.The average airline abandonment rate for airlines2018 was 87.9%, higher than the average for travelsites (81.3%) and much more than retail ecommerce(74.6%).This doesn’t mean that airline websites are badlydesigned or incredibly difficult to use. Some couldbe improved of course, but the higher abandonmentrates are mainly a result of the way people researchflights, and the length of the booking process.Of all travel products, flights are the mostcomplicated. Booking a hotel can be a relativelystraightforward process, as is the case with othertravel products like car hire. By contrast, bookingflights requires much more work from users.After selecting flights and times, they need to addpassenger details, passport data, select seats andin-flight meals, and much more. These are stepsthat can’t be avoided. For this reason, booking andpayment often takes longer than for other travelproducts. As a general rule, the longer the purchaseprocess, the more likely customers are to abandon.SaleCycle Data ReportTravel Booking Funnel DataSaleCycle Client Data100%Total Sessions45.8%Product Viewed17.6%Booking Process Started3.1%Completed BookingIf we look in more detail at the travel booking funnel,we can get a picture of how people behave on travelsites. Almost 46% of users view a travel product,which means they have searched and viewed ahotel room or flight, for example. After this, 17.6%actually begin the booking process. This is relativelyhigh when compared to retail, where 11.5% ofshoppers add an item to their shopping carts onfashion ecommerce sites, and 3.7% go on to makea purchase. In travel, a greater number of visitorsare beginning the booking process, but fewer arecompleting bookings. Of the 17.6% of visitors whobegin online travel bookings, just 3.1% completethem. For airlines, this booking completion figure iseven lower, at 1.8%.07
Understanding Airline & Travel Booking TrendsTrends in Booking TimingsThe peak periods for airline bookings are the firstfour months of the year, as many people are planningtheir northern-hemisphere summer holidays,and looking to escape the southern winter. It’s nosurprise then, that the number of abandonmentspeak in January, February and March, as traffic toairline sites is highest, and people are abandoningbookings as they research.Total Sales VolumeDECNOVOCTSEPAUGAbandoned Booking VolumeJULJUNMAYAPRMARFEBJANBooking and Abandonment Monthly Trends 2018SaleCycle Airline Client DataApril’s sales volume is highest, while it also has arelatively low number of abandonments, showingthat April is a key month for making decisions. Manywill want to secure their chosen flights and hotels atthis point and aren’t prepared to wait longer and runthe risk of missing out.Abandonment volumes drop between April andJuly. It’s a period when fewer people are booking,though there’s still plenty of interest in last minutegetaways at this time of year. With school holidaysand limited periods to take leave, this is a time whenpeople wanting to get away around this time of yearneed to make faster decisions, so abandonmentvolumes are relatively low.SaleCycle Data Report08
Understanding Airline & Travel Booking TrendsDay of Week Trends 2018SaleCycle Airline Client DataDirect Sales Volumes by Day of Week 2018MONTUEWEDTHUFRIRecovered Sales Volumes by Day of Week 2018SATSUNTotal Sales Volumes by Day of Week 2018MONTUEWEDTHUMONTUEWEDTHUFRISATSUNBooking Abandonment Volumes by Day of Week 2018FRISATSUNWhen looking at weekly trends we can see that thetotal sales (direct sales and recovered sales) per daypeaks on a Tuesday, and declines for the rest of theweek, with weekends being the quietest. There area lot more sales from recoveries on Tuesdays, andproportionately more direct sales on Mondays.The volume of abandonments follows the directsales volumes quite closely, with Saturday andSunday having slightly higher abandonment ratesto traffic than the rest of the week.MONTUEWEDTHUFRISATSUNThere’s no typical travel shopper - some seem tobook in plenty of time, while many are booking lastminute. This may reflect different needs. Businesstrips may lead to more last-minute booking, whilefamily holidays can be a more considered purchase.Mobile is an important device for last minutepurchases. According to TrekkSoft*, bookings aregenerally made thirteen days in advance, but onmobile, this window narrows to just five days.Research by Phocuswright (published by TrekkSoft)found that 38% of bookings are made on the sameday or two days before a trip, 53% are made withina week of a trip, and just 19% are made in advance.*Source: TrekkSoft Blog: Travel statistics to know about in 2018 and 2019SaleCycle Data Report09
Understanding Airline & Travel Booking TrendsWhy Do People Abandon?Reasons for Booking AbandonmentSaleCycle Booking Abandonment Survey Datamultiple selections possibleJust Looking39%Price Too High/Want to Compare Prices37%Need to Check with Others21%Booking Process Was Too Long13%Technical Issue9%Lack of Payment Options7%A key factor for airline booking completion ratessitting at just 1.8% is the nature of the sites and theresearch process for travel products. In many cases,it’s necessary to start a booking to find out keyinformation. For example, a visitor can select datesand destination for a flight but needs to begin thebooking to find out other key details, such as flightschedules, price, and seat availability, or beforethey are presented with any personalized options.In other words, customer research continues intothe booking process, and this can mean moreabandonments at this stage.When travelers search for a flight, unless the airline isable to convey how they differ from their competitorsin terms of product, service or convenience, thecustomer will base their decision on the onlyvariables they can see when searching online: priceand flight schedule. Without any personalizedtouchpoints at this point in the customer journey,visitors are less loyal to continuing the purchaseafter sourcing basic information and are more likelyto price compare with competitors.Data from SaleCycle’s booking abandonmentsurvey validates this. 97% of survey respondentssaid they abandoned bookings because they werejust looking, comparing prices, or needed to checkwith others before making a commitment.The others cited the lack of payment options andencountering technical issues, which can be easilyaddressed once they’re recognized. Technical issuescan cover a range of problems, from site crashesto issues with form fields, and some may not betechnical issues but the result of unclear form fieldsor poor user interface design.SaleCycle Data Report10
Understanding Airline & Travel Booking TrendsThe research process tends to be longer for travelthan for most other products and will vary accordingto the type of travel product, the cost of the booking,and other factors. According to Millward Brownstats*, users booking holidays visit as many as 38travel sites before completing their booking.With a generally longer time frame for research,abandonment doesn’t always mean that visitorshave decided against a purchase. It could be merelya pause while they make their minds up, or perhapstalk to other travelers. Nonetheless, this doesn’tmean that travel sites shouldn’t seek to addressthis. There is a risk that potential customers will endup buying from another site once they leave, so it’simportant to do what you can to keep your site andproduct in the customer’s mind.“I think the first thing to do is to understand the sizeof the opportunity. Never mind fancy features, workingout what difficulties users are having with your currentfeature-set should be your first priority.”Stuart McMillan, SchuhThe good news is that 87% of survey respondentssaid they would consider coming back to theirabandoned booking. Some just need a little moretime to think about the purchase, and promptingusers to return to their booking, as well as savingtrip details can persuade them to complete theirbooking when they’re ready.*Source: Welocalise on Medium: Online Travel Demands Many Digital Touch-points in Multiple LanguagesSaleCycle Data Report11
Understanding Airline & Travel Booking TrendsWhere Are We Going?Top Destination Searches 2018Google Trends Data (Global, AU, UK Searches) & Hipmunk (US Searches)Top Global ‘Trip to’ SearchesTop UK ‘Flight to’ SearchesTop AU ‘Flight to’ SearchesTop US ‘Flight to’ SearchesData from Google and Hipmunk reveals the mostpopular searches using the phrase ‘flights to.’ fromthe US, UK and Australia.Looking at the UK stats, the two top destinationssearched are a result of Russia’s hosting of the 2018World Cup, with fans looking for flights to see theirteams compete in the finals.The next few destinations are more predictable,with Spain the obvious choice for many in the UKseeking a beach holiday. I suspect that destinationsSaleCycle Data Reportin France, Italy and elsewhere may be more popular,but the results are spread across several possiblecity searches. For example, someone searching forflights to Italy might choose Rome, Naples, Milanand more.US travelers appear to be more adventurous lookingat these stats, with flight destinations spread acrossfour continents. By contrast, Australians are morelikely to stay relatively close to home, with the onlyone non-Asian destination appearing on the list.12
Understanding Airline & Travel Booking TrendsHow Do We Book?Share of Traffic & Sales by DeviceSaleCycle Client DataAllRetail81.7% .7%TrafficSaleCycle data reflect this. It shows that, while themajority of traffic (58.9%) to travel sites comesfrom mobile devices, this traffic accounts for just18.3% of bookings. Stats on flight bookings byPhocuswright paint a very similar picture. Whenbooking flights, 37% use mobile for shopping andresearch, but just 18% book on these devices, with asimilar pattern for tablets.Mobile63.2%For travel in general, and more specifically flights, theuse of mobile for research is growing, but there aregreater obstacles. The main one is that the bookingprocess is more lengthy and complex, and thereforemore difficult to complete on a mobile device.36.8%51.3%DesktopSalesAs is the case with ecommerce in general, the travelresearch and booking process is becoming moremobile. Certain sectors, such as the hotel industry,are seeing more bookings on mobile than desktop.For hotels, with a simpler product and checkoutprocess (often customers don’t even need to pay onsite), mobile works well.TravelFlight Booking Trends by DevicePhocuswright/Bing DataShoppingBookingFor every 92 spent acquiringwebsite visitors, only 1 is spentconverting et15%6%SaleCycle Data Report13
Understanding Airline & Travel Booking TrendsSmartphone Users Who Would Research, Book, and Plan an Entire Trip on a Mobile DeviceGoogle Consumer Insights, 2018U.K45%U.S48%France44%Germany27%South Korea53%Japan59%India87%Brazil67%Australia45%In a nutshell, many customers are happy to usemobile when researching travel purchases, butmost prefer to complete the booking on a desktop.This doesn’t mean that airlines can’t attractbookings from mobile users. A lot of the issues canbe addressed through better design and overalluser experience on mobile. Indeed, there areplenty of smartphone users who happily researchand book trips all on mobile. This trend is morepronounced in places like India where smartphoneusage outnumbers desktop, but almost half of allsmartphone users in the UK, US and France arehappy to use mobile for the entire process.SaleCycle Data Report14
Part TwoTips to Increase Future Online Bookings
Understanding Airline & Travel Booking TrendsTips:Increase Future Online BookingsAs the online booking and abandonment datafrom 2018 shows, airlines have a long way to goin improving user experience online. Thanks to theway people research travel, there are always goingto be some abandoned bookings but the key is tokeep these to a minimum and to avoid unnecessaryabandonment as much as possible.User experience is now a key differentiator for onlinetravel sites, so it’s vital to design sites with a focuson the customer. The way people use websites, andthe technology available changes over time, so it’simportant to keep track of and to have a culture ofcontinuous improvement and optimization.We took a look at the top 25 transactional airlinewebsites (i.e. no review sites or aggregators) basedon Alexa rankings, and charted which UX featuresthey were using to help increase online bookings.Using insights from this study, we’ve put togethersome key points of focus to help improve futureconversion rates and enhance the customer journeyfor your website visitors.Airlines Use of User Experience FeaturesSaleCycle Research into the top 25 AirlineWebsites based on Alexa Traffic DataAuto-Complete in Site Search100%Content About Destinations28%User Reviews20%Use of Maps23%Clear Contact Information40%Address Entry Shortcuts4%Mobile Friendly Website92%Flexible Search72%Use of Urgency32%Use of Booking Abandonment Emails28%SaleCycle Data Report16
Understanding Airline & Travel Booking TrendsRecognize Your CustomerThe ability of new technologies to aggregatecustomer data, combined with a constantlyconnected consumer base, provides incrediblepotential. It augments the ability as an industryto get closer to airline customers and understandtheir values, while the growing sophistication ofmachine-learning technologies means anticipatingfuture behavior is easier.The aviation industry faces a challenge acrossmultiple booking channels in determining whata customer values, but identifying key customersegments such as budget travelers, families,business travelers and frequent flyers can make thisa lot simpler task.In identifying these customer segments, airlinescan tailor the online experience to suit based onthe common perceived value and importance theywould place on the product, convenience, andservice. Offering just a total fare that a traveler cantake or leave is no longer enough. This informationcan be used to identify real-time opportunities tooffer enhancements to the customer’s journey.A personalized customer journey will lead the wayairlines interact with website visitors, benefitingairlines with more sales revenue, but alsotravelers, who will gain greater satisfaction, moreempowerment and clarity to make choices.Customer Segment BusinessTravelersFrequentTravelersFamiliesA focus on personalization also enables airlinesto intelligently price, position, and promote theirproducts and services so that those offers are morelikely to meet individual customer needs.Small details like localization also matter.Recognizing the user’s location to pre-populatedeparture field removes a step in the process forthem. Automatically adjusting the language andrelevant location currency to fit the visitors alsohelps in creating a more streamlined bookingexperience.73% of consumers say they want a more personalized experienceonline. The other 27% just haven’t experienced it yet.AccentureSaleCycle Data Report17
Understanding Airline & Travel Booking TrendsEnrich the User ExperienceWith so many avenues for reaching customersonline, airlines need to have an even strongeridea of what they represent, and how to utilize thedigital realm to build emotional connections withtravelers. While online consumers have a varietyof resources at their fingertips for comparingflight prices and schedules, sites who offeradditional information that helps in purchasingdecisions will be sought out by customers.Increasingly, airlines are recognizing that theirwebsites are portals between their customersand their brands, embedding them with thedata and content required to serve them in anincreasingly data-driven marketplace.supplementary content and user reviews becomesevident. It can go a long way to keeping your visitorsengaged and will prevent the need for them to leaveand look elsewhere for this information.Airlines can also assist the research process byproviding tools that allow the customer to quicklycheck for the best prices and times. Showingprices and availability two or three days around theselected departure date, or the option of a weeklyor monthly view helps customers to find the bestcombination of price and time that suits them andsaves them in terms of time and effort.“It’s not just about conversion rates. You have tocreate online experiences that are valuable for bothyou and your customers.”Seth Godin28% of the top airline sites are alreadyembedding destination content into their sitesto help visitors in their decision making. Thisnumber is sure to rise as the value of includingSaleCycle Data Report18
Understanding Airline & Travel Booking TrendsThink Mobile FirstLet Them Pay Their WayWith the 2018 data showing that only 18% of travelbookings are completed on a mobile device despitemobile accounting for 37-60% of site traffic, it’sessential that airline websites are usable on mobiles.Payment options used by online shoppers haveevolved rapidly over the last few years, and it’s vitalthat airlines keep pace with customer preferencesand cater for different payment options. This canmake or break a booking, so the key is to provide achoice of options for users. Some payment optionscan even make the mobile booking process easier.Of the airline sites we benchmarked, the vastmajority do have mobile optimized sites, thoughsome are better than others. Providing a mobileexperience is about detail. Form fields, CTAs, andany clickable elements need to be designed for ‘fatfingers’ and given enough space so that fields andlinks aren’t too close together. The booking processcan be made easier on mobile with useful shortcutswhich help with things like address entry andproviding payment details.The opportunity for increased revenue lies in the factthat mobile spend still lags behind mobile attention.SaleCycle data highlights this large gap betweenmobile traffic and spending on travel websites. Techgiants are betting on mobile wallets to close thisgap. Options with saved payment details like PayPalor Apple Pay can save time during the checkoutprocess.With lack of payment options being cited as areason for abandoning an online booking by 7% ofsurvey respondents and a further 13% leaving whenthe booking process is too long, addressing thiscould make a big impact on online sales.SaleCycle Data Report19
Understanding Airline & Travel Booking TrendsProvide a Sense of UrgencyProvide Flexible Search OptionsThe use of urgency reduces abandonment by 8%when used well, and it’s a great way to provideuseful information for customers, and push themtowards a decision.72% of the top airline websites are using flexiblesearch, allowing visitors to search beyond specificdates, or to include nearby airports. This meanspeople can see what’s available without pinningthem down to specifics.Key information can be shown as people are makingtheir booking, or as they are about to leave the site.This information could be showing shoppers howmany people are looking at the same itinerary orhow long they have to take advantage of a specialoffer. For airlines specifically, key information wouldalso be how many seats are left on a flight and ifthey want to secure it they’d better move fast.Not everyone approaches a travel site with fixeddates in mind, and flexible search can help themresearch more easily. Allowing people to search foravailable flights across a week or an entire monthand presenting views of daily price averages is agreat way to give price conscious visitors an initialoverview of what they can expect, and to help intheir travel budgeting.Use Booking Abandonment EmailsUsing booking abandonment emails can increaseonline sales by 5%. Abandonment happens forvarious reasons, and those who are researching,comparing prices, or checking with other travelerscan be tempted back to their bookings.87% of people would consider returning to purchasea previously abandoned booking.SaleCycle Abandonment Survey DataOur data has shown that an abandonment emailwhich includes the full details of the abandonedbasket or booking, can produce five times moreclick-throughs and five times more revenue than ageneric, reminder email.SaleCycle Data Report20
Understanding Airline & Travel Booking TrendsUnderstanding Airline &Travel Booking TrendsThe trends shown in this report show that airlines,when compared to the online travel sector in general,have the toughest task in terms of convertingcustomers, especially mobile users.Abandonment rates are highest for airlines and alower percentage of those that begin the bookingprocess complete it on airline websites. There aremany ways that airlines can address these issuesthough, and much of this comes down to providing abetter user experience, whatever device customersuse for bookings.but airlines can seek to minimize this by giving themthe tools to research on-site, by using destinationreviews or relevant and useful content for example.Airlines can also help their customers to returnto bookings with email prompts, and saved flightdetails. The other main issue to address is thebooking process itself. Here, a focus on userexperience can really pay off. Airlines need a certainamount of detail from users, but this can be madeeasier by testing and optimizing booking forms,and making the process as smooth as possible forbookers.The research process, and competition from sites likeSkyscanner means that travelers are likely to shoparound and check prices when looking for flights.Indeed, the majority of reasons for abandonmentare around research and price comparison. Thismeans a certain level of abandonment is natural,SaleCycle Data Report21
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hotel room or flight, for example. After this, 17.6% actually begin the booking process. This is relatively high when compared to retail, where 11.5% of shoppers add an item to their shopping carts on fashion ecommerce sites, and 3.7% go on to make a purchase. In travel, a greater number of visitors are beginning the booking process, but fewer are
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B2B taxi booking A B2B taxi booking is a successful booking that has been placed from a Taxi Butler at a venue. Successful booking A successful booking is a booking that has been placed and accepted by a taxi driver and confirmed to have arrived at the desired location. Taxi Butler A taxi booking device that allows venue staff to book taxis .
view the booking. 2 4. Serko advises you the status of the booking and whether it is permissible to make changes. CLONE OR SHARE A BOOKING 5. Click on More Actions in the header to clone this booking or share it with another traveller. AMEND A BOOKING 6. Click on More Actions beside each option in the booking to add a hotel or car, or to amend .
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Airline Processing Using the SCMP API August 2019 4 Contents Chapter 4 Asia, Middle East, and Africa Gateway Airline Data 31 Airline Data Processing 31 Request-Level Fields 32 Examples 33 Chapter 5 Barclays Airline Data 35 Airline Data Processing 35 Request-Level Fields 36 Examples 39 Chapter 6 CyberSource through VisaNet Airline Data 40
