2015 Good Year to Fly for Budget Travellers

Good news travellers. According to a new report, air fares at top destinations around the world are predicted to continue dropping throughout the remainder of the year.

In a joint report prepared by Expedia and the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), number crunchers combed through the statistics to come up with a few general travel trends and compile a list of the 10 best travel deals for 2015.

According to the report, average ticket prices for major destinations in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America are forecast to to drop between 4% and 6% throughout the remainder of the year compared to average ticket prices in 2014.

Fluctuating currencies are also impacting travel plans around the world. The strength of the US dollar is driving travellers originating from North America to stay longer in Europe this year compared to 2014.

Likewise, travellers from North America headed to China are spending an average of 25 days abroad this August, lengthening their stay by five days from 2014.

The pattern works both ways, however, as the strengthening Chinese yuan is expected to increase the number of Chinese visitors to the US this year and lengthen their stays from 12% to 14% from August 2014 to August 2015.

Analysts also point out that the bundling trend could also help travellers save an average of up to US$648.

That’s particularly true of London, where bundling flights and hotel rooms could add up to US$1,424 in savings, or US$1,087 in Maui and US$1,058 in Paris.

Meanwhile, here are the top 10 flight routes that showed the biggest year over year drops in air fare for 2015:

Malaysia to Australia -22%

Italy to Portugal -22%

Brazil to the US -17%

Spain to Thailand -17%

Germany to Portugal -16%

Japan to France -16%

United States to Dubai -15%

Mexico to France -11%

Malaysia to Thailand -10%

Sweden to Spain -7%

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/travel/article/2015-good-year-to-fly-for-budget-travellers