Skyscanner reveals the top booking mistakes made by Aussie travellers

A smiling young woman sits in the window seat of a commercial airliner as it flies through the air. She is aglow as she looks out the window and takes a picture of a sunset with her smart phone.
By Hannah Edensor


Booking travel can be a thrilling experience, however, new research from Skyscanner has revealed that while Aussies are comfortable with booking their travel online due to the ease and convenience, the majority still have concerns about making an error in their online booking.

A massive 70 per cent of travellers worry about making a mistake when booking their holiday online.

So much so, that more than a third (34 per cent) will spend over 15 minutes checking and verifying their details before pressing the “confirm” button!

To help Aussies avoid these mistakes, travel experts at Skyscanner pulled together a list of must-know tips to help avoid them…

Most common booking mistakes% of respondents
1. Booking for the wrong flight date or time55%
2. Entering the wrong passenger details18%
3. Booking without check-in baggage allowance12%
4. Booked a flight to the wrong airport or destination9%

Flight timings were revealed as the biggest blunder made, with over 50 per cent booking their flights for the wrong date or time. What’s more, almost 1 in 10 also admitted to booking their flights to the wrong airport or even destination!

This slip-up is experienced more frequently than you might think, with travellers accidentally booking (and sometimes even travelling!) to the wrong city, including flying to Sydney, Canada instead of Sydney, Australia.

Even domestic destinations can be a subject of confusion for Aussies travellers, with Melbourne’s two airports (Avalon and Tullamarine) often being mixed up in the booking process.

Similar concerns were also expressed about booking hotels and accommodation, as more than half (54 per cent) of Aussies worry that they are booking for the wrong dates or an incorrect number of nights.

Mistakes in travel bookings can cost Aussies anything from a minimum of $50 for booking a flight without the correct baggage allowance, to the cost of having to rebook their entire flight or hotel accommodation if crucial details, such as passenger name, date or destination need to be amended.

Verification hesitation

Skyscanner’s research found that due to these hesitations Aussies are becoming nation of “cautious bookers”.

Majority of Aussies (40 per cent) will spend between 5 and 15 minutes checking and re-checking their travel details before finally feeling comfortable to confirm their booking. Another third (34 per cent) will spend over 15 minutes verifying their details to ensure they haven’t made any gaffes.

We’ve all felt it before – that sudden pang of anxiety just before confirming all the details of a travel booking. It’s only natural as a holiday is often one of the biggest items we’ll purchase in the year, and a simple slip-up can put a downer on the experience or mean occurring additional costs that we didn’t plan for.

Booking travel should be a joyous moment, free of stress. That’s why we’ve looked at the top concerns Aussies have and pulled together expert tips on how everyone can avoid making any mishaps.

Through our app, travellers can easily review important trip details and good-to-know information before they make their purchase which will help ease the booking process and help make mistakes in booking a lot more avoidable,

Michael Grierson, Skyscanner Travel Expert

Tips for booking your holiday online

To help Aussies avoid these mistakes and reduce the level of anxiety experienced when booking their travel online, Skyscanner pulled together a comprehensive guide on how to avoid messing up your online booking and a handy cheat sheet of things to look out when booking your holiday online.

Skyscanner’s Ultimate Cheat Sheet On Ways To Avoid Travel Booking Mistakes.
Download it and share it with your friends!

Download the Skyscanner app to search and book flights, hotels and car hire.

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