Those spending their autumn holidays after week 42 next week will travel abroad at a much lower cost than others, a survey by Yle reveals. Prices will rise even further due to climate change.
Autumn holidaymakers in major cities such as Helsinki, Turku, Tampere, Kuopio and Joensuu are now paying exceptionally high prices for their autumn holiday flights.
People travelling abroad next week, the 42nd week of the autumn holidays, could pay more than twice as much for European flights as those travelling in a normal week. For long-haul destinations, airfares can be hundreds of euros more expensive.
The interest rate pandemic has pushed up air fares, especially during the peak demand periods.
This is clear from Yle’s report, where we followed the development of flight prices since the beginning of July.
A week later, in week 43, autumn holidays are celebrated in several other cities and provinces, such as Kotka, Lahti, Lappeenranta, Oulu and Pori.
In this last week of autumn holidays, the prices of plane tickets are slightly higher than usual, but still significantly cheaper than the previous week.
Demand, i.e. people’s willingness to go abroad, affects the prices of plane tickets, and that is why flights are more expensive than usual during the holiday seasons.
– Some of the passengers book their trip well in advance, and the remaining ones are more expensive.
Mäki-Fränti says that flights in Europe are now around 70 percent compared to the number of flights before the pandemic. This is due, for example, to staff shortages at European airports, which is why some airlines have had to reduce their flights.
Moving your departure by just a few days can affect hundreds of euros
Flight prices vary by day. According to Yle’s report, it is most expensive to fly on the weekend before the holiday.
If the departure date is brought forward or delayed by a few days, it will be reflected in the prices, especially in Europe.
For example, autumn vacationers in the biggest cities spent almost 400 euros on flights from Berlin, while flights departing on Thursday and Tuesday cost well over a hundred euros. Weekend departures from London cost around 250 euros, while flights before and after the weekend cost less than a hundred.
Even in the last week of the holiday, it is cheaper to go on a trip before or after the weekend, although the differences are not quite as great.
Heli Mäki-Fränti of the Finnish Tourism Industry Association says that especially during the holiday seasons – Christmas, skiing holidays, Easter and autumn holidays – plane tickets are cheaper when bought a few months in advance. As a result of the uncertainty created by the pandemic, people have started buying trips at an increasingly late stage.
Mäki-Fränti says that there are many question marks in the air.
– You can’t say what is visible. Caution can be seen in traveling, but on the other hand, trade is doing really well at the moment.
Fighting climate change will raise prices in tourism. There has been a discussion in the industry that travel will never be as cheap as it used to be.
– There is enormous price pressure. It will be reflected in all movement.
Take a look before you book
We have put together a few tips that, according to the report, can be useful if you are looking for cheap plane tickets.
According to data collected by Yle, flight prices may vary a lot during the day. During the same day, the cheapest price to Tokyo changed by more than one thousand euros, and within Europe by more than one hundred euros. So if you want to save and there is no need for direct flights, you should search several times during the same day. Some low-cost flights include several stopovers.
According to the report, the day of the week also has an effect on the price. If you start your trip at the beginning of the week, the prices can be tens of percent cheaper than flights at the end of the week.
According to the data collected by Yle, prices increase by the weekend, and it is more expensive to travel to almost every destination on the weekend. The most expensive departure day is Sunday.
*Corrected on 12.10. at 9:58, the story claimed that Oulu is a small town. Clarified sentences about city sizes.*
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