6 February 2012

Flights, hotel and car hire: Brits already booking their 2012 holiday

New research commissioned by Direct Line travel insurance has revealed that about 20% of those Brits planning their 2012 holiday have already booked it.

Sales figures from January have shown that UK consumers have not just spent their money on clothing and home furnishing during the first month of 2012, but travel too. Numerous Brits have already organised their main holiday in order to take advantage of discounts on flights, hotels and package holidays.

According to data from the study, two out of ten Brits (8.7 million UK adults) have already booked their short- or long-haul travel arrangements. In addition, one in five UK consumers (8.7 million) has started looking at deals but hasn't booked yet.

Reducing holiday's costs

With the current financial turmoil squeezing many UK households, a number of Brits have decided to give up their main holiday this year or just spend less on it.

While 20% of Londoners said that they weren't planning to take a main holiday this year, almost a majority of Welsh people (46%) responded that they will forget about big holidays this year.

The best way of reducing the cost of your holidays is comparing the price of the different services and products required when travelling abroad such as flights, travel insurance or car hire.

Car hire insurance, for instance, is almost always cheaper through price comparison sites than buying from any car hire rental company or broker. Compare car hire insurance to find the best deal and reduce the price of your holiday.

Tom Bishop, head of travel insurance at Direct Line, gave consumers another money-saving tip:

"Whether you're taking advantage of January sales to book your holiday now, or just scouring the web for deals later on, be sure to book your travel insurance as soon as you book any of your travel arrangements.”