Long delays biggest pet peeve for fliers, Mumbai-Goa cheapest air route

Ddiscourteous invasion of personal space, followed by delayed flights, loud passengers are the top reason for in-flight frstruations of passengers, revealed a survey by digital travel platform Agoda.

For the Indian travellers specifically, delayed flights were their primary source of irritation, followed by loud travellers and discourteous behaviour, and the infamous armrest war.

The survey covered 10 markets across Asia. People from South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan are most offended by personal space invasion, be it the war on arm-rest territory or the production of bodily noises and unpleasant smells from uncovered feet.

Unsurprisingly, flight delays rank high, coming in second on the list of passengers’ grievances across Asia Pacific. The patience of travelers from the Philippines especially reaches a tipping point when it comes to flight delays as they rank it their top bugbear, a sentiment echoed by travelers from Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

 

Ranking as the third biggest in-flight annoyance across the region is the presence of loud passengers, like overly chatty seatmates, couples airing out their dirty laundry in public, or raucous groups broadcasting their music or games across the entire flight.

 Australians and Malaysians are least sensitive to noise while Taiwan and South Korean travelers appreciate more peaceful flying experiences. Japanese, too, appreciate the peace and quiet, but also are the only market that express an intolerance for disruptive passengers who are rude to cabin crew as their top grievance.

“For many of us, the holiday fun starts the moment we board a plane,” said Liyana Jamil, Vice President of Global Partner Services, Agoda. “But while flying is generally an enjoyable experience, it sometimes comes with minor grievances."

Google introduces new feature to find and book cheaper flights

Meanwhile, Google Flights has introduced a new feature about the most budget-friendly time for booking flight tickets for the upcoming holiday season.

“For searches with reliable trend data, you’ll now see when prices have typically been lowest to book your chosen dates and destination," Google said in the blog post. The new insights could tell you that the cheapest time to book similar trips is usually two months before departure, and currently, you are in that sweet spot. Or else, the traveler might learn that prices have usually dropped closer to takeoff so that he or she can decide to wait before booking.

If you do want to wait for lower fares before you book, price tracking can do most of the heavy lifting for you. "When you enable price tracking, we’ll automatically notify you if flight prices drop significantly. You can set up tracking for specific dates, like your best friend’s destination wedding in February. Or, if you’re more flexible, you can turn on “Any dates” price tracking to receive emails about deals anytime in the next three to six months. To enable this feature, make sure you’re logged into your Google account," it said in a blog post.

On some flight results, you’ll see a colorful price guarantee badge, which means Google is especially confident the fares you see today won’t get any lower before departure. When you book one of these flights, it will monitor the price every day before takeoff, and if the price does go down, it will pay you back the difference via Google Pay.

Google says that the best time to book flights for Christmas is around early October. “Average prices tend to be lowest 71 days before departure — a big change from our 2022 insights, which found that average prices were lowest just 22 days before departure. And the typical low price range is now 54-78 days before takeoff." Meanwhile, to help bargain hunters

Agoda has also shared the most affordable routes booked on its platform in early August by travellers from India

Mumbai-Goa cheapest route to fly

With thousands of flight routes from India to choose from on Agoda, Indian travellers had access to fares starting as low as Rs 1,329. This fare is for the route between Mumbai to Goa and has ranked 5th among 10 Asia Pacific markets for the lowest domestic rate. The flight duration is only 75 minutes, making it a quick and easy getaway from the hustle and bustle of Mumbai.

 Thailand and the Philippines, both having offered an Rs 665 domestic flight, shared the top spot.

Regionally, India ranked 9th with an Rs 4,985 flight from Delhi to Kathmandu.  The flight time from Delhi to the capital of Nepal is 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Indians did however have the most affordable intercontinental flight: Delhi to Dubai was available at some point for only Rs 7,478. The flight is only 4 hours and 30 minutes long and with a total fare of only Rs 7,478, Delhi to Dubai was the cheapest intercontinental flight booked on Agoda in early August..

Lowest flight fares for departures in September – October, booked between 1-14 August 2023 on Agoda