January is a good time to buy air tickets at prices up to 60% lower, according to statistics provided by the online travel agency Vola.ro, Thus, if during the rest of the year, tourists carefully watch the discount campaigns of airlines to get the best airfares, in January low prices are the easiest to find, with a simple search.
The destinations to which the cheapest airfares can be found in January are among the most popular with tourists from all over the world: Italy, Austria, Spain, France and Portugal
The cheapest destinations to fly to from Romania are the European ones, where Romanians most often go for relaxing holidays, to visit family and friends, or to study or work.
These include Italy, a favorite destination for city breaks, where prices for a return ticket start at €20, and Austria, where Romanians go skiing in particular during this period, paying as little as €40 per person for a return ticket.
The list of cities to which you can fly at a minimal cost if you buy your ticket in the current month also includes Barcelona (from €49/person/round trip), Madrid (from €42/person/round trip) and Valencia (from €60/person/round trip).
At the same time, those who want to spend Valentine’s Day in Paris will pay €49 per person for a return ticket this month. Of the European countries most popular with Romanians, the highest price for air tickets in January is to Portugal, from €79/person for a return flight.
Although the city break pandemic has replaced city breaks with longer holidays, often to domestic destinations, or, at the other end of the scale, to exotic destinations where there were fewer restrictions, in 2022 we could see a gradual return of city breaks to the preferences of Romanian tourists.
They have already made the first bookings for the spring months and even for this year’s Easter holidays. There have also been early booking requests for summer holidays, with Greece, Turkey and Spain among the most popular destinations for longer summer holidays.
Sales up 150% this month on air tickets
With the advent of vaccines, green certificates and clearer travel regulations, Romanians are increasingly keen and willing to travel abroad.
Thus, Vola.ro estimates an increase of at least 150% in the current month compared to January 2020. At the same time, Vola.ro reported the sale of double the number of air tickets in December 2021 compared to the same period of the previous year.
“According to trends observed over time, January is usually the month with the best prices for air tickets. There are cases when fares are even 60% lower than the rest of the year. The explanation for ‘cheapness’ is simple: airlines have promotions, it’s a time when they are still finalizing their flight schedules for the coming year, they want to test the market, to get a feel for passenger preferences. And because we understand that flexibility has been the keyword of travel for some time, our customers can add various options to each ticket purchased on Vola.ro to guarantee a worry-free trip, such as COVID insurance or the Fast Fefund service, where they can get their money back in cash within 3 days or an instant voucher if their flight is changed or canceled. We also recommend choosing hotels with the Free Cancellation option for added peace of mind and less hassle in case of an unexpected event” said Claudia Tocilă, Vola.ro Marketing Director.