Mumbai: The practice of asking a travel agent to book an airline ticket is flying out of the window. A significant number of Indians now book their tickets directly with the airline, indicating a push towards the trend that prevails in the West, said a survey carried out by an online travel portal.
"Air ticket booking in India is increasingly becoming a supplier-direct market, as is the case in more developed travel markets. Sixty-eight per cent of Indians interviewed said that they book directly with the airline, perhaps knowing that this is where they will get the best deal/price," said the survey. But these flyers do their research before buying tickets as 74% said it was 'very important' to use a flight search price comparison site. "A good 64% visit 3 to more than 5 sites while shopping for flights. Only 6% are brand loyal to one website, while another 35% shop at 1 to 2 sites," said the survey.
The survey, carried out by TripAdvisor among 1,700 respondents across various age groups, looked at air ticket booking practices of Indians.
Among the various ancillary fees that are part of flying, the most despised was the seat selection fee followed by extra payment for check-in baggage. About 32% of the respondents also said that they dislike paying for in-flight food and beverages. When it came to spending time on board, sleeping was the clear favourite with 62% respondents opting for it followed by reading, with 54% indicating this pastime.
28/12/15 Economic Times
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"Air ticket booking in India is increasingly becoming a supplier-direct market, as is the case in more developed travel markets. Sixty-eight per cent of Indians interviewed said that they book directly with the airline, perhaps knowing that this is where they will get the best deal/price," said the survey. But these flyers do their research before buying tickets as 74% said it was 'very important' to use a flight search price comparison site. "A good 64% visit 3 to more than 5 sites while shopping for flights. Only 6% are brand loyal to one website, while another 35% shop at 1 to 2 sites," said the survey.
The survey, carried out by TripAdvisor among 1,700 respondents across various age groups, looked at air ticket booking practices of Indians.
Among the various ancillary fees that are part of flying, the most despised was the seat selection fee followed by extra payment for check-in baggage. About 32% of the respondents also said that they dislike paying for in-flight food and beverages. When it came to spending time on board, sleeping was the clear favourite with 62% respondents opting for it followed by reading, with 54% indicating this pastime.
28/12/15 Economic Times
